Dr. Daniel Ritz named Etisalat’s Group Chief Strategy Officer

Etisalat announced the joining of Dr. Daniel Ritz as Group Chief Strategy Officer. This appointment comes to meet requirements of the new phase the company is pursuing to strengthen its position regionally and globally.

Ritz is a recognised expert in international telecoms, IT and media. He came to Etisalat from Swisscom enriched with 20 years of professional experience engaged with leading international organisations with full hand experience in driving new business development through multibillion mergers and acquisition and joint ventures.

Dr. Ritz served as chief strategy officer at SwissCom and led an effort to reorganise group strategy and corporate venturing. During his previous engagements with SwissCom, he was also entrusted with the job of chief executive officer of SwissCom Slovakia, where he initiated and led turnaround of underperforming business.

Commenting on the appointment, Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, Etisalat’s Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “The appointment of Daniel Ritz as group chief strategy officer is at the heart of Etisalat strategy to attract the best talent, and will bring further impetus to the realisation of the Etisalat Group strategy as it aims to become one of the world’s leading telecommunications companies.

With the wealth experience Ritz has, we are confident that Ritz will be a great value to help lead the company to the next phase ahead.

Daniel will help Etisalat to focus on optimising and value creation from its operations in the existing markets, grow in adjacent opportunities and selectively expanding beyond the 18 countries,” Julfar added.

In his first statement following the appointment, Daniel said: “I’m pleased to be selected by Etisalat group as a chief strategy officer and the entrusted confidence in me by the company to lead the group strategy to the next phase. Ritz added “It is a pretty big responsibility yet I’m glad to the have chance to be part of it and excited as it’s going to be an interesting journey. I look forward to it.”

Dr. Daniel has studied at the University of St. Gallen and graduated with a degree in Information Management and a Doctorate in Business Economics. Amongst his many additional assignments, Dr. Daniel is also a member of Group Executive Board at SwissCom and the Chairman of SwissCom Hospitality Services.

He started his career in 1990 with Hochschule as project manager and then moved to the prestigious Boston Consulting Group as a consultant. He spent 12 fruitful years at BCG, becoming a Partner and Managing Director.