Sam Darwish is a U.S.

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

active in the

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

industry."Sam Darwish"
''Bloomberg rofile'. Accessed 9 February 2018. He is Chairman and CEO of IHS Towers, which operates more than 39,000 towers across

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, and is listed on the NYSE in October 2021.

Early life and education

Darwish was brought up and educated in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

during the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

.Darwish, Issam. Interviewed by Owolawi, Abisola
"Bus or Food? The First Crossroad on the Path to Being a Millionaire"
df ''Forbes Africa'', March 2014. Accessed 27 July 2015.

Business career

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.Clémençot, Julien
"Issam Darwish a plus d’une tour dans son sac"
''Jeune Afrique'', 24 September 2014. Accessed 3 September 2015. 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.Darwish, Issam. Interviewed by Landon, Claire
"Q&A: Issam Darwish, IHS Towers co-founder"
''Telecom Finance'', December 2015. Accessed 13 January 2016. 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. During his tenure, IHS Towers became a publicly listed company on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2021, and noted as the largest IPO of a firm of African heritage to list on the Exchange. 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 has been involved in setting up incubator programs for aspiring tech entrepreneurs in Lagos and oversees local community projects throughout the emerging markets. He has been a financier behind the establishment of educational facilities in underserved areas throughout Africa. 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. Darwish is also on the advisory board of the

Woodrow Wilson Center The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) or Wilson Center is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank dedicated to research and policy discussions on global issues. Established by an act of Congress in 1968, it serves as both ...

, a bipartisan think tank based in Washington DC, and also a Trustee of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darwish, Sam American businesspeople American people of Lebanese descent Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Naturalized citizens of Nigeria Nigerian people of Lebanese descent Nigerian businesspeople Nigerian financiers Businesspeople from Beirut American University of Beirut alumni