Sam Darwish is a U.S. entrepreneur active in the

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

industry."Sam Darwish"
''Bloomberg rofile'. Accessed 9 February 2018. He is Chairman and CEO of IHS Towers, which operates more than 39,000 towers across three continents and listed on the NYSE in October 2021.

Early life and education

Darwish was brought up and educated in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

during the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

.Darwish, Issam. Interviewed by Owolawi, Abisola
"Bus or Food? The First Crossroad on the Path to Being a Millionaire"
df ''Forbes Africa'', March 2014. Accessed 27 July 2015.

Business career

He began his professional career in 1992, in Beirut, after joining MCI as an executive. At the time, the company was one of the world's largest telecoms carriers. He then joined Libancell, now known as MTC Touch, where he assumed a leading role in establishing the first Lebanese mobile network.Clémençot, Julien
"Issam Darwish a plus d’une tour dans son sac"
''Jeune Afrique'', 24 September 2014. Accessed 3 September 2015. Subsequently, in 1998, he was appointed Deputy Managing Director of Motophone, Nigeria's first GSM operator. Following the Nigerian government's 2001 plan to privatize its telecommunications industry, he set up a mobile infrastructure company,

IHS Towers IHS Towers is one of the largest telecommunications infrastructure providers in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East by tower count and the fourth largest independent multinational tower company globally. Operations Founded by Sam Darwish ...

, which he has led since then.Darwish, Issam. Interviewed by Landon, Claire
"Q&A: Issam Darwish, IHS Towers co-founder"
''Telecom Finance'', December 2015. Accessed 13 January 2016. Under his tenure as CEO, the company has been named one of the largest equity fundraisers in Africa, as well as one of the overall largest fundraisers of the past decade. During his tenure, IHS Towers became a publicly listed company on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2021, and noted as the largest IPO of a firm of African heritage to list on the Exchange. In 2015, he was nominated Business Leader of the Year for West Africa as part of the All Africa Business Leaders Awards in collaboration with CNBC Africa. In 2016, he won the award for his founding and continued leadership of IHS Towers.

Other ventures

Darwish has founded additional businesses in the US and Middle East such as Vorex, a software provider for small enterprises across the US. He is also the Founder and President of Singularity Investments, Dar Properties and Dar Telecom. Darwish has been involved in setting up incubator programs for aspiring tech entrepreneurs in Lagos and oversees local community projects throughout the emerging markets. He has been a financier behind the establishment of educational facilities in underserved areas throughout Africa. In September 2015, he served on an entrepreneur judging panel for She Leads Africa, a venture which invests in promising women entrepreneurs from across the continent. Darwish is also on the advisory board of the Woodrow Wilson Center, a bipartisan think tank based in Washington DC, and also a Trustee of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darwish, Sam American businesspeople American people of Lebanese descent Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Naturalized citizens of Nigeria Nigerian people of Lebanese descent Nigerian businesspeople Nigerian financiers Businesspeople from Beirut American University of Beirut alumni