Djezzy is Algeria’s leading mobile network operator with over 17 million subscribers and covering 95% of the country’s national territory. Since 2013, Djezzy’s legal team has been led by Sophie Verdejo as chief legal officer.

The telecoms company has been able to draw on Verdejo’s 20 year professional experience as well as the expertise of the rest of her team. In 2014, Djezzy’s parent company, VimpelCom, agreed to sell a majority stake to the Algerian National Investment Fund (a branch of the Algerian government). In a deal worth $2.6bn, Verdejo and her team played a key role that saw the parent company retain management control of Djezzy despite selling a 51% of the shareholding.

More recently the legal function has handled all corporate and governance matters related to the May 2016 appointment of Tom Gutjahr as CEO, and in the same month secured a license to provide 4G and long-term evolution (LTE) services in Algeria. Clearly happy with the licence award, Djezzy’s executive chairman Vincenzo Nesci said at the time: ‘This is an excellent opportunity for Djezzy, as the leading operator in Algeria, to spearhead the development and implementation of such sophisticated technology in Algeria. It will facilitate further digital inclusion for our 17 million customers with the launch of new services and offers’.