Ibadan, 16 October 2023. – Nkechi Egerton-Idehen has been appointed the new CEO of the Nigerian Communications Satellite Company (NIGCOMSAT). This appointment comes amidst the Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu’s significant reshuffle within the Country’s Ministry of Communications, Innovations, and Digital Economy, NIGCOMSAT’s parent ministry. As a result, Nkechi Egerton-Idehen will assume her new role immediately, succeeding Engineer Tukur Mohammed Lawal Funtua, who took over as NIGCOMSAT’s CEO in December 2022.
According to Space in Africa, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, made the official statement. Furthermore, the reshuffling follows the Nigerian President’s approval to immediately dissolve the governing boards of federal Government parastatals, agencies, institutions, and government-owned companies in June 2023.
Prior to her appointment, Egerton-Idehen, served as the Head of Sales for the Middle East & Africa at Meta. She also served in the executive leadership teams at Ericsson Ghana and Liberia, where she managed the account teams for Ericsson in both countries. In addition to these, the new CEO would draw from her previous role as the Regional Sales Manager in West Africa for Avanti Communications.
Nkechi Egerton-Idehen also holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Warwick. In addition to these, she has completed executive education programs at Harvard Business School and Yale School of Management.
NIGCOMSAT and Thales Alenia Space previously renewed their partnership on the development of a Satellite-Based Augmentation System. By virtue of the partnership, NIGCOMSAT will consequently provide access to the SBAS payload of the NIGCOMSAT-1R satellite to Thales Alenia Space to disseminate SBAS signals in Africa.