Former CEO reflects on delayed salaries, a 20-man workforce, employee loyalty and the people-first culture behind the company’s remarkable recovery
Former Pan African Towers Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Azeez Amida, has reflected on one of the most defining chapters of his career, recounting how he helped steer a struggling telecommunications infrastructure company from the brink of collapse to a successful management buyout and eventual exit for its original shareholders.
In a personal account of his tenure, Amida said he took over the company at a difficult period when salaries were being delayed, employees were leaving and the workforce had fallen to barely 20 full-time staff while running what he described as a $10 million operation.
According to Amida, the company’s financial pressures were so severe that interest payments and diesel expenses at some point exceeded its revenue.
He recalled that there were occasions when he deferred his own benefits to ensure that employees received their salaries.
But, he said, the business eventually underwent a significant transformation.
Amida said the company stabilised its operations, ended salary delays and expanded its workforce from about 20 employees to more than 100.
He also highlighted what he described as an exceptional period of employee retention, saying the company went for more than a year without losing a staff member, apart from employees who left after receiving opportunities they considered too significant to turn down.
From Struggle to Successful Exit
According to Amida, the turnaround extended beyond improving the company’s day-to-day operations.
He said the business ultimately completed a management buyout that delivered an exit for the original shareholders at more than 10 times their investment.
For the former CEO, however, the financial outcome was only one part of the achievement.
Amida said the experience also fundamentally changed his understanding of what a workplace should represent.
“It Should Feel Like Home”
Reflecting on the workplace culture developed during his tenure, Amida said the company became one of the best working environments he had experienced.
His philosophy, he explained, was built around creating a workplace where employees could find common ground, work together and pursue a shared objective rather than operate in an atmosphere dominated by hierarchy and command.
“It should feel like home,” Amida said, describing his view of what the workplace should become.
He argued that regardless of an individual’s position, influence or success within an organisation, treating colleagues with respect remains one of the most important responsibilities of leadership.
For Amida, the experience ultimately became more than a business turnaround.
It became a lesson in leadership, employee loyalty and the importance of putting people at the centre of organisational success.
The reflections come as Pan African Towers continues to feature in legal disputes concerning its ownership, governance and management.
Amida’s account offers a personal perspective on his tenure and the transformation he says took place during his time at the company, while the competing issues arising from the company’s subsequent ownership and management remain before the courts.
The courts will ultimately determine the merits of the respective claims in the ongoing legal proceedings.
