Önder Sönmez will head up Alcatel-Lucent’s operations in Turkey and Azerbaijan and Richard Edet will assume responsibility for Alcatel-Lucent Nigeria. Both roles are effective immediately.
Sönmez will also become chairman of the board at Alcatel-Lucent Turkey, and will manage the day-to-day operations as well as the strategic business directions of each country. Previous roles include those at Digital Equipment Canada and EMC Turkey.
Edet will be based in Lagos, and will also take on the role of managing director for Nigeria. Prior to his appointment, he held key management roles at IT companies such as SAP Africa, Cisco and Microsoft.
Both Sönmez and Edet will report directly to Amr K. El-Leithy, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in the Middle East, Africa, Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Of the appointments, El-Leithy said that he expects Sönmez and Edet to bring “extensive experience in sales and operations” to reinforce the company’s business and presence in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Nigeria.
