Informa deepens Africa coverage

Sadiq will provide strategic project consultancy to complement Informa's existing research business. Some of his most recent engagements have involved helping operators and technology companies to understand LTE business planning, convergence and monetising VAS better.

"There are now unprecedented levels of interest and investment in the African telecoms industry, and we will continue to provide accurate and thought-provoking analysis based on comprehensive market data and forecasts. Whereas until recently, the African telecoms story has been largely about rapid consumer growth, this is a fast-evolving market, with numerous themes now requiring further investigation," commented Nicholas Jotischky, Informa's principal analyst for Middle East & Africa research. "These include the power of next-generation networks, the role of partnerships, the potential benefits of cloud computing and the impact of mobile enterprise and government," he added.

"Sadiq has an important part to play in communicating new business model practices to the industry itself and beyond," noted Jotischky.

"I am delighted to be joining Informa at a time when operators across the Middle East and Africa can benefit from innovative consulting services based on solid market research and deep industry insights," said Saidiq Malik as he takes up his new senior consultant position.

"The rapid refresh of 2G and 3G networks into packet core and OFDMA technology architectures necessitates new business models to thrive in a converged data-centric world. The critical financial challenge facing operators is how to ensure an attractive ROI on technology infrastructural investments to create business cases that will satisfy investors."

A regular speaker at conferences and workshops in Africa and the Middle East, Sadiq will become a key presenter at Informa's Africa conferences. His first such appearance will be in his native Kenya for East Africa Com, and he will also be appearing at the Cloud Africa and VAS Africa events in South Africa later this year.

Sadiq joins Informa's existing Africa team consisting of Nicholas Jotischky, Thecla Mbongue, Matthew Reed, Danson Njue, Mai Barakat and Kalyan Medapati.

Sadiq's full bio.