Former Vodafone regional director will be new GSMA director general

Vodafone’s former Regional CEO of Africa, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, Vivek Badrinath, will become GSMA director general and  GSMA Board member in April.

This follows the announcement in June 2024 that current director general, Mats Granryd, will step down after MWC Barcelona. From March, he will take on a new role as special advisor to the Board for the remainder of 2025.

“Vivek’s deep understanding of the industry and its potential makes him the ideal individual to lead the GSMA into the next phase of its evolution. I am confident that Vivek will work, together with the Board and our excellent GSMA Leadership Team, to drive change and innovation, creating value for both the industry and society,” said GSMA chairman andn Telefonica CEO  José María Álvarez-Pallete López

“I look forward to working with the GSMA Board, its members, and the leadership team to extend and amplify the positive impact of the mobile ecosystem for people, industry, and society globally,” said Badrinath.

Badrinath has held leadership roles, most recently at Vantage Towers AG, where he was the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Board.

Badrinath began his career at Orange where he held various technical and operational roles. He moved on to become the CEO of the Africa, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific region,Badrinath shifted industries when he joined AccorHotels as deputy CEO in 2014 helping the company modernise and expand its digital footprint.

He then became CEO of Vantage Towers, a Vodafone spin-off that operates and manages telecom towers across Europe. He holds a degree from the École Polytechnique and an engineering degree.