Press Releases

MTN appointments reflect global diversity, ability to attract and retain the best

The MTN Group wishes to announce a number of key executive appointments in its African operations.

Mr Themba Khumalo, the current CEO of MTN Rwanda is the new CEO of MTN Uganda. Previously Khumalo was an executive at MTN South Africa before his appointment as CEO of MTN Swaziland.

Mr Khaled Mikkawi, former CEO of the MTN operation in Liberia, will become the CEO of MTN Rwanda. Mikkawi was with Investcom for nine years before the company was acquired by MTN in 2006.

Mr Erik van Veen, the current COO of MTN Uganda, is the new CEO of MTN Zambia.

In the West and Central Africa region (WECA), MTN Guinea Bissau CEO, Mr Frans Joubert, has been appointed CEO of MTN’s operation in Liberia. Mr Anthony Masozera, the current CFO for MTN Rwanda, will become the new CEO of MTN Guinea Bissau. Mr Wim Vanhelleputte has been appointed CEO of MTN Côte d’Ivoire. Vanhelleputte joined MTN from another mobile operator where he served as CEO.

MTN Group President and CEO, Mr Phuthuma Nhleko, says these appointments will go a long way towards helping MTN to achieve its vision of being the leading telecoms player in emerging markets. “An appropriate degree of mobility of staff between our various operations facilitates increased learnings across the business and provides our staff with attractive and meaningful opportunities for growth within emerging markets. Over time, this should further bolster our ability to attract and retain the best skill and capability across our footprint,” says Nhleko.

MTN, which has its humble beginnings in South Africa only 15 years ago, has grown into a multinational telecommunications giant with 21 operations in Africa and the Middle East and employs over 15 000 people of varying skills and talents. In recent years, the MTN staff complement has begun to reflect the internationalization of the company, showing more diversity in culture, language and ways of doing business.

Group Executive for Human Resources, Mr Paul Norman, points out that this internationalization has brought the Group significant HR benefits. “Through our expansion we have dramatically increased both our talent pool and our retention of key staff, who we can now offer international assignments,” he says.

MTN recently published its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2008, which showed a solid performance despite the global economic slowdown which negatively impacted many other sectors in 2008. Subscribers were up 48% to 90,7 million compared to the same period in 2007; revenue was up 40% to R102,5 billion from December 2007; and earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortization rose to 36% to R43,2 billion compared to 31 December 2007.

“At MTN we recognise that our success is attributable to the depth and quality of our employees. Initiatives such as a strategic talent investment board are aimed at addressing the leadership capability and capacity needs of the organisation. The appointments we are announcing are the result of these efforts and reaffirm our commitment to the priority of effectively managing our people resources,” concludes Norman.