Hassanein Hirdijee

Hassanein and his brother Amin are the third generation of entrepreneurs in the Hiridjee family. After graduating from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP Europe) in 1997, he returned to Madagascar, his homeland, and gradually began taking the reins of the family’s half-century-old business.

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In 2015, this same business became the AXIAN Group, with the aim of becoming an African champion in the telecoms, financial services, innovation & fintech and real estate sectors not just in Madagascar, but across all of Africa. The group actively contributes to sustainable growth and innovation in several countries across the continent.

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Hassanein believes that overcoming the many challenges of development requires ethical, inclusive and sustainable economic growth that creates positive impact for the greatest number. This is even more important in AXIAN ́s environment because today, 60% of Africa's population still has no access to electricity and 90% remain deprived of access to basic finance and banking services.

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Hassanein is the Chairman of Axian Telecom, a pan-African telecommunications services player providing mobile and fixed network services as well as digital infrastructure and mobile financial services. Under his leadership, Axian telecom expanded from one single mobile operation in Madagascar until 2015 to 7 markets today (Madagascar, Comoros, Reunion, Mayotte, Senegal, Togo and Tanzania), serving around 33 million customers.

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Through the AXIAN Foundation, he also ensures that programs protecting vulnerable populations are implemented regularly and efficiently.

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As a contemporary art collector, he launched the H Foundation in 2017, which gained social recognition as ‘public entity’ in Madagascar in 2018. The H Foundation aims to support contemporary art practices throughout the African continent. It runs two exhibition spaces, in Antananarivo and in Paris, and sponsors major international exhibitions.

In 2022, Hassanein was awarded the CEO of the Year prize at the annual Africa CEO Forum, which was held in Ivory Coast and organized by the Jeune Afrique group in partnership with Mazars.

axian-telecom.com

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