Vodacom has announced the appointment of Rene Meza as managing director for Vodacom Tanzania. Currently managing director of Bharti Airtel’s Kenya operations, Rene brings over 12 years’ international experience in telecommunications across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Speaking about the appointment, Vodacom’s CEO for international operations, Johan Dennelind said: “We’re very excited to have Rene joining the team. He brings a wide range of experience from emerging markets as diverse as Paraguay, Pakistan and Kenya.”

“He was also previously CEO for Millicom’s (Tigo) operations in Tanzania which means that he’ll be up and running in this new role very quickly.”

Rene replaces Dietlof Mare, who had requested to change roles after spending almost five years in Tanzania. The company stated that an announcement as to Dietlof’s new role will be made in the near future.

“Under Dietlof’s direction, Vodacom Tanzania has grown considerably. It’s now our second largest operation outside South Africa and has over nine million customers. Dietlof has led the business admirably and has been instrumental in the implementation of M-Pesa and other initiatives that have placed the company well for the future.”

“I want to thank Dietlof for his dedication and we look forward to using his hard-earned skills elsewhere in the Group” concluded Dennelind.”

In related news, Vodacom also recently announced that as of 5 September 2011, it will be extending its reduced rate Super Saver and Vodafone Passport products to many more countries.