Issam "Sam" Darwish is a U.S. entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. He is Chairman and Group CEO of IHS Towers, the largest mobile telecommunications infrastructure provider in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He is a frequent speaker at industry and academic events such as the 2015 Wendel Investor Forum and the 2016 Economist Nigeria Summit, as well as on international broadcast channels.
He began his professional career in 1992, in Beirut, after joining MCI as an executive. At the time, the company was one of the world's largest telecoms carriers. He then joined Libancell, now known as MTC Touch, where he assumed a leading role in establishing the first Lebanese mobile network. Subsequently, in 1998, he was appointed Deputy Managing Director of Motophone, Nigeria's first GSM operator. Following the Nigerian government's 2001 plan to privatize its telecommunications industry, he set up a mobile infrastructure company, IHS Towers, which he has led since then. Under his tenure as CEO, the company has been named one of the largest equity fundraisers in Africa, as well as one of the overall largest fundraisers of the past decade. Moreover, IHS Towers has won a series of awards and nominations for its rapid growth and high-profile tower transactions, such as the 2015 African Company of the Year at the CEO Forum Awards and Africa Investor's 2015 ICT Project Developer of the year, as well as the Middle East and Africa Deal of the Year at the Telecomfinance Awards in 2013 and 2015, and 2014 EMEA Finance's prize for the Best Telecommunications Deal in EMEA region. As of 2017, IHS Towers is the largest mobile telecommunications infrastructure provider in Africa, Europe and the Middle East by tower count and the third largest independent multinational tower company in the world. Darwish is a supporter of green energy research and has overseen the roll out of renewable energy solutions throughout the continent. He is also a proponent for the development of the mobile banking industry across the continent and in Nigeria in particular. In 2015, he was nominated Business Leader of the Year for West Africa as part of the All Africa Business Leaders Awards in collaboration with CNBC Africa. In 2016, he won the award for his founding and continued leadership of IHS Towers.
Other ventures
Darwish has founded additional businesses in the US and Middle East such as Vorex, a software provider for small enterprises across the US. He is also the Founder and President of Singularity Investments, Dar Properties and Dar Telecom. Darwish is involved in setting up incubator programs for aspiring tech entrepreneurs in Lagos and oversees local community projects throughout Nigeria. He has been a financier behind the establishment of educational facilities in underserved areas throughout Africa and is a believer of the fact that increased employment opportunities is the key to boosting Africa's economy. In September 2015, he served on an entrepreneur judging panel for She Leads Africa, a venture which invests in promising women entrepreneurs from across the continent. In the same year, he was asked to join the Africa 2.0 Advisory Board alongside individuals such as Reverend Jesse Jackson, Joaquim Chissano, the former President of Mozambique, and Samba Bathily. Africa 2.0 is a pan-African project aimed towards driving sustainable growth throughout the continent. Darwish is also on the advisory board of the Woodrow Wilson Center, a bipartisan think tank based in Washington DC.
Personal life
Darwish holds the chieftain title “The Adimula of Erin Ile” in the state of Kwara in Nigeria. He counts Raphael Udeogu, the former managing director of Motorola's Nigerian division, and Bashir El-Rufai, the former Managing Director of Intercellular Nigeria Limited, amongst his personal mentors.
