Vodafone’s Arun Sarin yesterday stepped down from his position as CEO during the company’s annual general meeting, handing the reigns over to his deputy, and CEO of Vodafone Europe, Vittorio Colao. According to a Financial Times (FT) report, Colao used the opportunity to indicate he plans to stick to Vodafone’s focus on emerging markets and aims to take control of South African mobile operator Vodacom. The report also stated he gave no indication of wanting to sell Vodafone’s 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless, its US joint venture with Verizon Communications.

“We are interested in Africa and we think Vodacom is a great company,” Colao said, reports the FT. “We have an African strategy, we are always hopeful of getting a higher share of the companies we like.” Colao reportedly stressed he would continue to focus on countries such as India and Turkey that were pursued by his predecessor, although Vodafone chairman Sir John Bond told shareholders that emerging markets such as Russia and Brazil were proving difficult to penetrate due to a lack of acquisition opportunities. Colao added that the immediate priority for the world’s largest operator (by revenue) is meeting full-year revenue and cash flow guidance, partly via cost-cutting, adjusting prices or amending its device range. The FT notes that last week Vodafone scaled down its sales guidance for the next financial year – which resulted in its biggest one-day share price fall – and then undertook a £1 billion share buy-back.