Johannesburg - MTN, which recently made several appointments, has bulked up its executive with a new COO, and head of Business Enterprise.
The company, Africa's largest cellular carrier by subscriber numbers, said on Wednesday that Jens
Schulte-Bockum will assume the position of group COO from January 16 as Jyoti Desai retires.
MTN notes Schulte-Bockum's last senior role in the telecoms sector was as CEO of Vodafone Germany between
2012 and 2015. It did not provide additional information, but noted "we expect Jens to bring extensive experience in the consumer business, as well
as the area of large scale transformation in a convergent operation".
In addition, Oliver Fortuin
will assume the position of executive head of Business Enterprise, from next March.
Fortuin is
currently the CEO of BT Global Services sub-Saharan Africa, having previously
held many senior roles
at IBM, HP and Lenovo. As head of BT Global Services, he was engaged in the development
and sale of enterprise solutions to many multinationals across the African continent.
"Oliver
will greatly enhance MTN’s strategy in this area."
Read also: MTN in management shakeup
The listed company also said Bernice Samuels
has re-joined MTN as group executive of marketing. She was previously Chief Marketing Officer in MTN SA, prior to assuming a similar role
at FNB.
She subsequently
assumed the position of Executive Director of Strategy and Business Development at
SABMiller in South Africa. "Bernice will greatly assist in lifting and
repositioning product
development and uplifting the MTN brand to maintain its pre-eminent position in
Africa and the Middle East,
whilst adapting to a rapidly evolving sector."
Chairman Phuthuma Nhleko says the "senior management appointments bring to finality the management aspect of a large scale
transformation and operational review process which I am confident will place the group in good stead to
capitalise on its many prospects and reach its full potential in a rapidly transforming and exciting sector. We
have attracted individuals of high calibre and wide, relevant experience, to further enhance the existing
management team, consistent with the anticipated trajectory of the group."
The appointments also follows a Bloomberg report, citing sources, in October that Felleng Sekha had been hired into the newly created position of head of regulatory affairs, as part of a management shakeup at the wireless carrier. This followed a record $1 billion fine in Nigeria and the appointment of Vodafone Group’s Rob Shuter as incoming chief executive officer. Stephen van Coller has joined from Barclays Africa Group as head of strategy and mergers and acquisitions.
BUSINESS REPORT
For more on this topic, pick up a copy of Business Report tomorrow.