In the wake of a tough year which has claimed the heads of MTN’s group CEO, South Africa CEO and now Nigeria CEO, the company has overhauled its entire operational structure.
In the wake of a tough year which has claimed the heads of MTN (JSE:MTN)’s group CEO, South Africa CEO and now Nigeria CEO, the company has overhauled its entire operational structure.
The move will strengthen “operational oversight, leadership, governance and regulatory compliance” across its 22 markets in Africa and the Middle East, the company said.
MTN will restructure into three regions: West and Central Africa (WECA), South and East Africa (SEA), and Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
On 1 December, Jyoti Desai assumed the new position of Group COO, reporting to executive chairman, Phuthuma Nhleko. Having joined MTN 14 years ago, she has been CIO at MTN Nigeria, COO of MTN Irancell and was recently seconded to Nigeria. Her replacement as group chief technology and information officer will be announced soon, the company said.
Each region will have a vice president reporting to Nhleko, with two announced so far: Karl Toriola for WECA, and Ismail Jaroudi for MENA. The VP for SEA is expected to be announced soon.
Based in Nigeria, Toriola has been at MTN for 10 years, having held senior operational roles at group level and in Iran. He has also served as CTO at MTN Nigeria and CEO at MTN Cameroon.
Jaroudi has been CEO of MTN Syria since 2006, having previously held senior operational roles for Investcom’s subsidiaries across the Middle East and North Africa.
Also reporting to the executive chairman is the new group executive for M&A, Matthew Odgers. A former head of TMT for Africa and the Middle East and head of investment banking for MENA at UBS, Odgers led the bank’s overall relationship with MTN.
The search for the MTN group CEO is underway and remains a priority, the company said.
Commenting on the announcements, Phuthuma Nhleko said: “This revised structure and strengthened leadership will improve operational oversight and increase management capacity. This will enable MTN to continue to realise its strategy and vision, while also ensuring we achieve high governance standards and robust risk mitigation.”
With the financial year closing on 31 December 2015, the MTN Group will report its FY2015 results in line with the former structure: MTN Nigeria, MTN South Africa, large operating companies and small operating companies.
