ICT industry veteran Andile Ngcaba‘s Pan-African digital services provider Inq has appointed Dr Christian Wirtz as its new group CEO, effective from 1 April.
Dr Wirtz, currently an executive in group enterprise at MTN, will take over from founding group CEO Geoff Hardwick, who has stepped down from the role.
According to a statement, Dr Wirtz is an industry veteran with a wealth of telco and enterprise business experience, having worked for more than two decades in the ICT sector across Africa and Europe.
Founded in 2013, Inq is a cloud-based digital services provider specialising in intelligent connectivity, video analytics, and cyber security and cloud solutions.
The company, currently operating in 16 African countries including SA, helps organisations in their digital transformation journeys, covering different sectors, including banking, oil and gas, fast-moving consumer goods, mining, health, real estate, IT, public sector and logistics.
Inq chairperson Ngcaba explains: “We are excited to have Christian joining us. He has traversed industry-leading organisations such as McKinsey, Vodafone, Vodacom and most recently MTN. His experience will be invaluable in taking Inq to the next level.”
Outlining his plans, Dr Wirtz says he will help accelerate the digital transformation of the business. “At Inq, we are driven by the immense benefits that digital services can bring to Africa, and to the companies and communities in the countries we operate in.
“We believe our ‘cloud-first’ approach and our artificial intelligence-driven product developments will ensure an accelerated growth and will position us well for partnerships with other players in this field. Therefore, I am thrilled by the huge potential of Inq and I am convinced of its success across the continent.”
Domiciled in Mauritius, Inq is a subsidiary of the Convergence Partners Communications Infrastructure Fund, a fund dedicated solely to communications infrastructure and related services and technologies across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The company’s investments include Internet Solutions Mozambique, Skyband Malawi, Vodacom Business Africa’s operations, and Virtual Business Network Services in Botswana.
Share