Samira Draoua, who is currently Managing Director of Econocom’s business activity Technology Management & Financing (TMF) for France and President of the group’s subsidiary firm Les Abeilles International, has been appointed CEO of Econocom France. The Board of Directors has also decided to delegate day-to-day managerial responsibilities to her and nominate her for the position of Executive Director at the next annual general meeting. In this regard, she will be in charge of coordinating Econocom’s three main business activities (equipment, services and financing) and will help strengthen synergies between the three. This is a key role as France represents over fifty percent of the group’s revenue – €1.5bn – and over sixty percent of its staff – around 6,200 talents.
Jean-Louis Bouchard, Chairman of Econocom, said: ‘High performance, innovation and growth have marked the ten years Samira Draoua has spent in our group. Samira has developed both business activities and world regions – especially by strengthening our business in the US. Beyond these accomplishments, Samira is a real entrepreneur: she created a joint venture with Atos and she oversaw our acquisition and structuring of the firm Les Abeilles International. She’s also creative and she enjoys opening us up to a new field of work – industry – with our acquisition of SOFI Groupe, which puts us in the market of refurbished mobile devices and IT equipment.’
Samira Draoua explained her ambition for this new role: ‘I’m truly honoured by the trust the group and our chairman Jean-Louis Bouchard have placed in me. My aim is to break down the barriers between our three main business activities and make them work together more closely to form one powerful team. Indeed, Econocom is the “One Digital Company”. My new role will help fulfil this objective – for the benefit of our clients and to help the group grow.’
Samira Draoua graduated from INSEAD business school with an Executive MBA. She worked in banking (BNP Paribas), then in technology (Cisco). At Econocom, she has worked in advisory roles for clients, she has helped the group grow internationally, and she has headed one of the group’s three main business activities – Technology Management & Financing (TMF) – for France, which is her position today. Her main achievements have been to develop international strategic accounts – with revenue multiplied by ten, to implement a transformative plan for the group’s TMF business activity in France – this helped boost its revenue by fourteen percent in the space of thirty months, to help acquire SOFI Groupe – a new activity at Econocom, and to help acquire and integrate the maritime firm Les Abeilles International in 2020 – an entity that clinched a €120m deal with France’s navy.
Samira Draoua’s career is that of a multifaceted woman who has successfully worked in male-dominated worlds: the technology, finance and maritime sectors. In this regard, Samira Draoua emphasised: ‘You’ve got to set a course – and to stick to that course you’ve got to dare to step outside the box and go where you’re least expected.’
BIOGRAPHY
Samira Draoua came to France aged twenty-three. She began her career in 1996 as Sales Manager at Canon. She then joined BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions in 1998 where she held different positions of responsibility before creating and heading the key accounts department. She joined Cisco Capital in 2007 as Country Sales Manager France. And in 2012 she joined the Econocom group where she held, in succession, the positions of Client Executive, International Development Director and, finally, Managing Director of the group’s business activity Technology Management & Financing (TMF). She was appointed Econocom’s CEO France in September 2022. She has also been President of Les Abeilles International, a subsidiary of Econocom, since 2020.
Samira Draoua graduated from INSEAD business school with an Executive MBA. She also holds a Master’s degree in finance from Paris Dauphine University PSL and is a graduate of the Arts et Métiers business school.