Jérôme Hénique, currently head of Middle East and Africa, will replace Fallacher from 1 June with Yasser Shaker, CEO of Orange Egypt, stepping into Hénique shoes
Jean-Francois Fallacher (pictured) will lead the Franco-British satellite organisation, Eutelsat Group, from the start of June, replacing Eva Berneke, who has led the company since 2022. Berneke’s departure is something of a surprise, according to Reuters. She was at the helm when Eutelsat – which operates geostationary Earth orbit satellites – merged with the UK’s OneWeb – a low-Earth orbit satellite operator – in 2023.
The company said it would be looking for additional financing this summer. There is speculation that the sudden change in leadership might be related to the French government increasing its 13.6% stake. Having hauled OneWeb from the edge of bankruptcy in 2020, the UK government also owns 11% in Eutelsat group and India’s Bharti Global 24.1%.
The last couple of years has seen an upsurge in the role of satellite communications with the rise of direct to device technology, making it a feasible option for delivering connectivity to remote areas and to add resilience as attacks on submarine cables proliferate.
There is also considerable concern across the continent about its reliance on Elon Musk’s Starlink, and Eutelsat is a possible home-grown alternative. Arguably commercial success is seen as less important than Europe owning and operating its own satellites.
Multi-country experience
During Fallacher’s long career at Orange group, he held senior positions in Romania, Poland, Spain and France. Christel Heydemann, CEO of the Orange group, stated, “I would like to thank Jean-François Fallacher for his unwavering commitment throughout his career at Orange.
“More recently, I would like to underline the essential role he played in the creation of MasOrange and the implementation of the Lead the Future strategy in France. On behalf of all the teams, I warmly thank him and wish him much success in his new position.”
A rounded resume
Fallacher will be succeeded by Jérôme Hénique, EVP and CEO of Orange Africa and the Middle East since July 2022, overseeing 18 countries and more than 135 million customers. This region is the engine house of growth for Orange group. At its Q1 earnings report last month, Africa & the Middle East’s revenues up 12.8% (rising by €231 million), driven by increases of 21% in mobile data, 19.1% in fixed broadband, 22.1% in Orange Money and 17.1% in B2B across all activities.
Hénique faces a very different situation in France where earnings for the same quarter decreased 1.3% (a fall of €55 million) while retail services excluding PSTN grew only 1.5% and wholesale services fell 4.3%.
Hénique began his career as a consultant, and then held positions including Marketing Director in Spain, Home Consumer Market Director in France, and Group Marketing Director at Orange. He started his career in Africa and the Middle East as Deputy CEO of the Sonatel Group in 2010. In 2015, he took over as CEO of Orange Jordan before becoming CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa.
Mover and Shaker
Yasser Shaker, currently EVP, CEO of Orange Egypt, will step into Hénique’s role from 1 July, in agreement with the Board of Directors of Orange MEA. He will also join the Group’s Executive Committee and report to Heydemann.
She said, “I am also delighted with the appointment of Yasser Shaker as CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa. His extensive experience and deep knowledge of the region will be essential for continuing our growth momentum.”
Before joining Orange Egypt, Shaker served as the CTIO of Orange Middle East and Africa. He is a board member of several universities and organizations, actively working to enhance youth employability.
Shaker started as a telecoms engineer, graduating from the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University. He holds an MBA from the Rennes School of Business.
