NEAR COLLAPSE TO BILLIONS! HOW AMIDA RESCUED PAN AFRICAN TOWERS WITH 20 LOYAL STAFF
GREATRIBUNETVNEWS–FORMER Managing Director and CEO of Pan African Towers, Azeez Amida, has revealed the untold, gritty story of how he rescued a dying telecoms infrastructure company and turned it into a goldmine.
Ex-Pan African Towers Boss Opens Up On Owing Salaries, 20 Staff Left, And Sacrificing His Own Pay To Save The Business
From the brink of collapse to a jaw-dropping 10x-money exit!
In a raw, personal reflection, Amida said he took charge when the company was gasping for breath – salaries were delayed, staff were quitting in droves, and the workforce had crashed to just 20 full-time employees running a $10 million operation.
It was worse than anyone imagined.
According to him, at one point the company was bleeding so badly that interest payments and diesel costs alone swallowed more than its entire revenue.
“There were times I deferred my own benefits just to make sure staff got paid,” he recalled.
But loyalty and a people-first culture changed the game.
Amida said instead of shutting down, he bet on the remaining loyal staff – and that bet paid off big, leading to a remarkable turnaround, a successful management buyout and a highly profitable exit for original shareholders.
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.
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