GE ropes in Farid Fezoua as Africa CEO

Aug 04, 2018: General Electric (GE) has named Farid Fezoua as the next CEO, for Africa as current CEO and President Jay Ireland retires from GE effective September 30, 2018, after 38 years of service.

Fezoua will take on the top job in addition to his role in GE Healthcare. This appointment is effective October I, 2018.

“It has been a great honor to build GE Africa” said Jay Ireland. “The opportunities across many sectors, the optimism, the energy and entrepreneurial nature of the people have all contributed to a wonderful experience,” he added.

Ireland plays a significant external role advocating for investment in Africa. He is the chair of the US President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa. He is also co-chair of the US Africa Business Centre – launched in 2015 to lead the U.S. business community’s engagement with Africa’s regional economic communities, the private sector, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Ireland was a member of the African Development Bank’s special panel on accelerating the implementation of its ten-year strategy.

Meanwhile, with a career spanning almost 28 years, Farid Fezoua has been leading GE Healthcare's business growth in Africa since 2012. He has led the development of major large-scale modernisation programs with public and private sector project development/partnerships across Africa.

Farid joined GE in 2003 to lead customer financing efforts for GE Healthcare’s Middle East, Africa and Turkey Region. In 2005, he was appointed regional executive for GE Capital Markets Corporate, leading customer and project finance for all GE businesses in the Middle East and Africa.

Prior to joining GE, he held several senior positions in international banks and has extensive experience in the financing of trade and investment flows across the Middle East, Africa and Europe.