Rafiah Ibrahim is the President of Ericsson Region Middle East & Africa since August 2014. The following is a summary of her journey in the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) industry along the years. Full of adventures and new experiences, Ibrahim walked through the years to be the transformational leader, inspiring change and successful business woman she is today.
Transformation in the heart of an enlightening journey
Rafiah Ibrahim was born in Malaysia where she received her early education before moving to England. She comments, saying, “Even after completing my first degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Southampton University, I find it was very interesting, but I was not sure what I was going to do. Then, I was approached by Telecom Malaysia in 1981 while I was studying in London. Immediately after that, I moved back to Malaysia and started my first job as an engineer.” From London’s Imperial College of Science and Technology, she graduated in 1984 with a Master’s Degree in Digital Communications Engineering. At that time, the field chosen by Ibrahim was very new and unique – especially for a woman.
With excitement, Ibrahim describes the duties and responsibilities of her job. She says, “My first job as an engineer was of course doing a lot of operations, planning, and technical design. Learning about towers, and laying out cables was part of it all. That was very interesting and fantastic because I was one in a group of about hundreds, all of which were men. Even at college, I was the only female in the classroom! It was always intriguing; I loved it.”
After 7 years with Telecom Malaysia, Ibrahim was promoted and became responsible for network operations for the country. She comments, “Being a young manager, I learned a lot from my different experiences. I had a lot of engineers and technicians whom I used to train, and I learned a lot from working with people.”
From operations manager to sales and marketing, Ibrahim became exposed to different opportunities and new technologies. One of those technologies was data, in which she was specialized. Ibrahim was one of the very few to have experience in such a field. She says, “One of the new technologies was data, which I was specialized in. It was a very new area even in South East Asia. That is why I was one of the pioneers to present and deliver speeches about this technology at different conferences and countries.”
The journey with Telecom Malaysia took Ibrahim to Africa where she became responsible for international operations. She comments on this move, “As Telecom Malaysia was acquiring licensing in Africa, they were looking for someone who was willing to go to Africa and set up mobile and data networks. I was really excited about that, so there I was to Malawi. It was really interesting because next to doing my job, I got the chance to educate the local people there. Once again, my professionalism was colored by the humane desire to help and educate.”
Joining Ericsson took place after Ibrahim decided to understand the other player on the other side of the game; that is the supplier 16 years after being with an operator. She comments, “At that time, Ericsson was looking for individuals who could understand the language of operators and had enough knowledge and experience to help them meet their needs to be successful. And so, I joined the Ericsson Academy which was responsible for Asia Pacific region. I met operators who were Ericsson’s customers from China, all the way to Australia. My strategy was talking to these operators, understanding their needs, spotting the gaps and then setting up the business requirements with regards to competence for them.”
Shortly after that, Ibrahim became the General Manager for the Enterprise Unit in Ericsson Malaysia in 1996. After 5 years with Ericsson, she was offered the position of Country Manager for Motorola. Three years after that Ibrahim left Motorola to join the giant vendor Ericsson again as Country Manager in Bangladesh.
Ibrahim comments on this phase: “I missed Ericsson a lot; I was very happy working with them. When I was offered to come back, I was overwhelmed with excitement.”
Accepting the new offer, Ibrahim moved to Bangladesh. She says, “It was absolutely amazing as a country, the business was growing and booming. Moreover, in a country like Bangladesh, we do a lot of corporate citizenship work for Ericsson. In one of our projects, we funded a school to set up computers. That gave us a lot of appreciation from the local community and they began to know us better.”
Along with the professionalism Ibrahim is known for, her humanity pushed her towards new experiences in her career. She says, “I used to spend my free time helping the local people. In Bangladesh, I sponsored an orphanage which I found in very difficult conditions. I’ve also made a contribution to build a mosque for the people there. From one human to another, I feel it is my personal aspiration to help and localize competence. I feel proud when I leave behind me a team of local people assuming key positions.”
After Bangladesh, Ibrahim moved to the UAE when she was offered a position to lead the new international operator, Warid, which had operations in different countries in Africa and the Middle East. Three years later, she relocated to Egypt, where she was offered the position of the Head of Market Unit, North Africa. As per that role, she was responsible for 11 countries.
Ibrahim came back to the UAE in 2010 as she took over the responsibility of the global account for Etisalat Group where she became Executive Vice President, Global Customer Unit, Etisalat, at Ericsson. She assumed this position for 3 years.
During 2013, Ibrahim moved to London to Head Marketing for Business Line Broadcast Services, Business Unit Global Services then took the role of Head of Sales Excellence, with the integration of Red Bee Media.
In July 2014, Ibrahim was appointed as the President and Head of Region Middle East and Africa at Ericsson and until today she continues to take on this exciting role as described by her.
Commenting on her journey, she says, “With each venture I took along the different routes of this journey, I gained more and more experience. I am very proud to be a woman leader in this male dominated industry. All of the experiences were far from being intimidating; on the contrary! Yes, the journey was difficult, we need to transform as fast as our industry is transforming but I believe, it is change that great things can be made. Today, if I look back at the teams I have left behind; they are all local and strong. Empowering people is such a great source of pride.”
Supporting Customers in times of transformation – Inspiring Change
Rafiah Ibrahim believes that in times where the ICT industry is witnessing a fast transformation to the Networked Society, the key is to support our customers and drive their transformation agenda together. She states, “Operators have Digital transformation as part of their business agenda whether as network enablers, service creators or even service enablers. Throughout the transformation, they are always looking for ways that could help them best optimize their business, acquire licenses in some countries, divest or consolidate. We need to see what fits them better. We need to be sensitive to their needs and plans. Second, understanding our customers’ culture is very critical. In different parts of the world, operators conduct business in different ways. We need to understand that, and we respect the sensitivity of that issue. Our jobs are to share our experiences and be the advisor of the Digital Transformation agenda, make sure that there are synergies, they feel comfortable and that they can talk to us and trust us. This is something that we have to learn and build.”
Empowering employees in times of transformation – Inspiring Change
Ericsson has recently announced a transformation that will enable the company to be well positioned to seize the opportunities enabled by the Networked Society. Ibrahim comments, “In times of transformation, it becomes more crucial than ever to empower our employees who are our strongest assets. They are the people who will enable and support the change. We work to instill a culture of collaboration and innovation via initiating multiple programmes that engage people and steer them towards the same objective. Leadership communication becomes crucial in times of change, we share with our employees very clear objectives of what we are aiming to achieve. Our ultimate aim is to create technology for good, serve our customers and go where no one’s gone before, and we enable connectivity that makes a difference in communities across the world.”
Empowering Women
“Women are naturally resourceful,” comments Ibrahim, who continues, “Being a woman at heart, we are always resourceful; we will always find a way so that everyone is happy no matter how scarce the resources we have at hand are. Women always find ways to reach what they want. Second, determination and having the ability to engage others are very important traits in a woman’s personality. Ambition and self-confidence are also indispensable for any successful woman. Women should not constraint themselves by refraining from doing or taking on difficult tasks. As such, they will never succeed. They have to be courageous and believe that they can take things up to the next level.
I personally think a strong belief in oneself is the first step towards success and personal achievement. Once a woman believes in herself and in what she is capable of, she can set out to accomplish whatever aims she sets her mind to, anytime and everywhere.”
Commenting on the presence of women in the ICT sector, Ibrahim says, “ICT is not any different from others fields or domains in terms of business. If we look at ICT as an ordinary business, I cannot see how it would be problematic for women to venture into this domain. A team which is made up of both men and women is more vibrant and dynamic. Having both genders working together could add different experiences as to how an idea could be formed. This is very enriching and fulfilling.”
A Final Thought
Ibrahim shares “I have been in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The Middle East has a special place in my heart. It is a very diverse and vibrant yet difficult and complex region. This is the place where I would like to be. ”
Looking ahead, Ibrahim comments, “I believe that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Therefore to accomplish great things, we must not only act, we must also dream, not only plan, but also believe!
I believe, in times of transformation, together with our customers, we enable change and change-makers in the region.”