Ebenezer Asante gets new Executive Position in MTN Group

Effective 1 January 2021, MTN Ghana will become part of the Group’s West and Central Africa (WECA) region, and former MTN Ghana CEO, Ebenezer Twum Asante will become the Vice President for that region.

MTN Ghana used to be part of the region called the Southern and East Africa and Ghana (SEAGHA) region, and Eben Asante was the Vice President for the region from 2017.

But now that region has been streamlined to Southern and East Africa (SEA) region and former Vodafone Ghana CEO, Yolanda Cuba, who is currently MTN Group’s Chief Digital and Fintech Officer will take over as Vice President.

Meanwhile, Serigne Dioum, Group Executive for Mobile Financial Services, will join the Executive Committee (Exco) as the Group Chief Digital and Fintech Officer in the place of Yolanda.

Again, Kholekile Ndamase, Group Executive for Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), will assume the new Exco role of Group Chief M&A and Business Development Officer. Kholekile, 40, joined MTN in 2016 from RMB, where he led the equity-based financing business and was responsible for financing solutions and M&A execution.

Read More: WorldRemit Leads the Way Offering a USD Payout Option in Nigeria

Kholekile’s experience and leadership capacity is important to the group’s portfolio optimization drive, itself key to the strategy. This includes the asset realization programme, which aims to reduce debt, simplify the portfolio, reduce risk, improve returns and take advantage of expansion opportunities.

New WECA Vice President, Ebenezer Asante, 52, joined MTN in 2008 and is a highly experienced executive who has held senior positions in the Group, including CEO of MTN Ghana and CEO of MTN Rwanda. He is also a board member on a number of companies within the Group.

SEA Vice President Yolanda Cuba, 43, joined MTN in January 2020. Prior to that she was Vodacom’s Chief Officer of Strategy and M&A and CEO of Vodafone Ghana, which saw her named telecom CEO of the year in 2018.

Serigne, 46, joined MTN in 2009 and has an established track record in the telecoms sector, with strong experience in mobile financial services (MFS).

Before joining MTN, Serigne held senior positions in MFS, operational marketing, value-added services and data at Orange. Serigne is highly qualified and experienced to drive digital innovation and financial inclusion as well as build and scale these platforms as part of MTN’s growth strategy.

These executive changes follow those announced in October: Karl Toriola as CEO designate of MTN Nigeria and Ferdi Moolman’s appointment to the new exco role of Group Chief Risk Officer. Both are effective from 1 March 2021.

New GCFO

Meanwhile, the MTN Group has also appointed Telkom’s Group Chief Finance Officer, Tsholofelo Molefe as the new MTN Group Chief Financial Officer (GCFO).

The statement said Tsholofelo (51) will take up the position as soon as practically possible in 2021, but by no later than 1 October 2021.

In her new capacity, Tsholofelo will also join the Group board and take over from Sugentharan Perumal who has been acting in the position of GCFO since 1 September 2020.

Tsholofelo is a qualified chartered accountant, CA (SA), and brings deep financial, risk and telecommunications experience. As Telkom’s GCFO since 2018, as well as its Chief Risk Officer and Deputy CFO prior to that, Tsholofelo played a key role in the strategic transformation programmes at Telkom.

Prior to working at Telkom, Tsholofelo was the Finance Director at Eskom as well as the CFO for First National Bank’s Personal Banking division. She is also a Non-executive Director on the board of Curro Holdings.

The Group said in its statement that the new appointment and strategic changes in its executive committee (Exco) was after a comprehensive review of the Group strategy with a focus on accelerating growth, deleveraging the holding company debt and unlocking value.

It believes that the reassigned group executives, and the newly appointed GCFO will support the Group’s strategy execution going forward.

“We are thrilled to have an executive of Tsholofelo’s stature join us,” said MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita. “The board is confident that she has the experience required for the position. She will play a critical role in the growth of the business and unlocking of shareholder value.”

Ralph Mupita said “We are excited about our journey of growth and it is important to ensure that the management capacity is in place to sustain and accelerate our key strategic ambitions. Today’s appointments follow the recent management announcement we made on the 26^th of October and continues the process of further deepening the skills and experience required to lead the Group’s ambitious drive into the future.”

 “Not only do these appointments safeguard continuity in the growth of our leading and scale connectivity business on the African continent, but, importantly, also support the acceleration of our digital platforms, de-risking of the business and unlocking of value. I am also particularly pleased with our continued steady progress in adding to the representation of women in our senior leadership team, which underlines MTN’s strategic focus on diversity and inclusion.”

 “I look forward to the contribution of the appointed executives in driving the company forward,” he concluded.

Source: techgh24.com