Ismail Rasheed leaves Dhiraagu after four decades, eleven of them as CEO

Ismail Rasheed concluded his tenure as chief executive and managing director of Dhiraagu on 31 July, closing a career of nearly four decades at the Maldives' largest telecommunications company — the last eleven years of it as chief executive, the company announced.

"What I will remember most are the people," Rasheed said in his farewell message, thanking what he called the exceptional people of Dhiraagu and adding that he leaves "a company that continues to lead the market."

Few careers map onto a country's infrastructure the way his does. Rasheed began with Cable & Wireless and was on the founding team when Dhiraagu was formed in 1988. The years since carried the national telephone network and then GSM mobile coverage to every inhabited island, the first international submarine cable in 2006, the domestic north–south cable network, the company's 2011 listing on the stock exchange, and — the closing achievement — fibre-to-the-home coverage of every inhabited island in the country.

His successor is Valdemar "Valde" Ferradaz, a South African telecom executive with more than thirty years across markets in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean, including senior roles at Vodafone, Digicel, Cell C and Telkom Mobile, and a hand in launching South Africa's first mobile network. Ferradaz joined on 1 July as CEO designate and worked alongside Rasheed through a one-month handover under a succession plan led by parent company Beyon.

"I feel honoured to have been chosen to play a key role in continuing to shape a legacy that has shaped the Maldives," Ferradaz said. His appointment as chief executive is formally effective 1 August, approved by the board at its 23 July meeting under a succession overseen by the remuneration, nomination and governance committee. The company says its priorities and long-term direction do not change with the corner office.