Orange DRC has appointed Brutus Sadou Diakité as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective September 26, 2025. The company described the Malian executive’s appointment as “a strong signal of its ambition to lead the Congolese market.” He succeeds Ben Cheick D. Haïdara, who had led the operator since October 2020 and was recently promoted to Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer of Orange Middle East and Africa (OMEA).

Orange currently ranks fourth out of five operators in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s telecom market. According to an ARPTC report published in August, the French operator generated $155.8 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2025, capturing a 28.2% market share. While ahead of Africell (3.6%), it still trails market leaders Airtel (36.1%) and Vodacom (32.1%)—a position it has held for several years.

In the mobile internet segment, which generates more than half of industry revenue, Orange continues to lose ground. Its market share fell by 1.2 points in Q1 2025 to 29.8%, while Airtel gained 2.8 points to reach 41.8%. The regulator attributed the shift to “users opting for better service quality.”

A similar trend is seen in the mobile money market, valued at over $100 million in Q1 2025. Orange Money fell by 0.62 points to 15.86%, while Vodacom’s M-Pesa maintained its lead at 43.7%, followed by Airtel Money at 39.93%, both slightly strengthening their positions.

To challenge the market leaders, Diakité must address the persistent issues of service quality and network reliability. Orange is betting on innovation, framing his appointment as “a strong signal of the company’s drive to accelerate innovation,” citing his digital expertise.

Diakité previously led Orange Digital Platforms, where he oversaw the rollout of the Maxit super-app, now counting 22 million active users. A longtime Orange Group executive with two decades of experience, he began his career in 2002 as a software engineer at Ikatel in Mali (now Orange Mali). He later became Deputy CEO in 2017 and subsequently CEO of Orange Guinea-Bissau. In 2023, he joined OMEA in Casablanca as Director of Orange Digital Platforms.

He holds degrees in both engineering and management: a master’s in computer engineering from Abdelmalek Essaâdi University in Tangier, an advanced master’s in telecommunications and computer science from Université Côte d’Azur, and a master’s in business management from Université Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne. He also holds two Executive MBAs, from IAE Paris–Sorbonne Business School and HEC Paris.

Timothée Manoke