To support the accelerated execution of his Ambition 2025 strategy, MTN Group has announced, on June 30, the appointment of new CEOs for operations in Cameroon, Rwanda and Uganda effective 1 September 2022.
MTN also announces the creation of a new senior MTN Group post: that of Operations Executive for Liberia, Guinea-Conakry, Guinea-Bissau, and Congo-Brazzaville effective 1 August 2022, reporting to the Senior Vice President: Markets, Ebenezer Asante -Twum.
“The appointment of these executives, all with strong track records of execution and results, adds to our confidence on delivery of our Ambition 2025 strategy”. says MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita.
Mitwa Kaemba Ng’ambi, new CEO of MTN Cameroon
MTN Rwanda CEO, Mitwa Ng’ambi, becomes CEO of MTN Cameroon, replacing Stephen Blewett, who is leaving the Group. Mitwa Ng’ambi oversaw the listing of MTN Rwanda as well as the creation of its fintech subsidiary. She has been instrumental in strengthening the company’s stakeholder engagement and has also worked in MTN’s operations in Benin and Zambia. She was appointed CEO of MTN Rwanda on 18 September 2019, after serving as CEO of AirtelTigo Ghana since 25 June 2018.
MTN Group described Mitwa Kaemba Ng’ambi as a seasoned executive with strong business and technology experience and a unique background in mergers and acquisitions in the telecom sector. Interested in cultural diversity, Mitwa Kaemba has lived and worked in various countries including Finland, Denmark, Namibia, Benin and Zambia, where she is originally from.
She has held various positions in technology and business, leading teams in strategic and business planning, marketing, sales and distribution, mobile financial services and IT solutions delivery.
Prior to becoming CEO of AirtelTigo Ghana, Mitwa Kaemba Ng’ambi was CEO of Tigo (Millicom) in Senegal. She holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Joensuu (Finland) and worked for MTN and Airtel before joining the Milicom Group in 2016. Before being appointed CEO of Tigo Senegal, she was commercial director of the same company.
Prior to that, she was MTN’s marketing director in Benin, after having been Airtel’s marketing director in Zambia. In her home country, she also worked for MTN as Senior Manager: Planning, Products and Services; Manager IT Business Relations and Manager: Solutions Delivery. Prior to joining the telecommunications sector, she was an IT developer/project manager assistant at Danske Bank International in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Mitwa Kaemba is also active in personal development and coaching.
Mapula Bodibe, CEO of MTN Rwanda
Mapula Bodibe, Chief Consumer Officer of MTN South Africa, takes over as head of MTN Rwanda, bringing with her over 15 years of experience with MTN, including in Uganda. She has a strong background in business strategy, consumer marketing, customer strategy, brand management and communication, product management and customer analysis.
A chartered marketer with over 15 years’ experience in the telecoms sector and over 20 years’ sales and marketing experience, Mapula Bodibe has managed customer portfolios to generate revenue and market share, while building lasting customer relationships.
After serving for 2 years as an executive for the Consumer Business Unit at MTN, she has been appointed Chief Consumer Officer with effect from 1 July 2019. This position led to an extension of her responsibilities for the Consumer Business Unit, with the addition of Customer Value Management to her existing portfolio. In this role, she was responsible for the end-to-end development and delivery of a compelling customer value proposition to the market to achieve competitive advantage for MTN, as well as defining the marketing strategy to support the overall business strategies and objectives. Most of his time was spent building and maintaining strong Customer relationships and identifying new opportunities to increase market share and revenue growth.
From January 2015 to September 2017, Mapula Bodibe held the position of Marketing Manager at MTN Uganda. Her main responsibility was to define and execute the company’s overall marketing strategy, build the brand and drive market share and revenue growth through the development and execution of successful customer value propositions and marketing strategies.
Mapula Bodibe joined MTN in 2005 as head of the consumer marketing segment, before being promoted to senior consumer marketing manager and then general manager of consumer marketing. Prior to joining MTN, she was Deputy Director of Yum! Restaurants International, the world’s most popular chicken restaurant chain, specialising in the famous fried chicken. Yum! Brands, Inc. headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, has more than 54,000 restaurants in over 155 countries and territories, operating primarily the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurant brands, the global leaders in the chicken, pizza and Mexican-style food categories.
Mapula Bodibe started her career in marketing as a customer marketing representative at Unilever South Africa.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing and an MBA, all from the University of South Africa.
Sylvia Mulinge new MTN Uganda CEO
Sylvia Mulinge becomes CEO of MTN Uganda, having left Safaricom, where she was Chief Consumer Business Officer for the group. Safaricom PLC is the most profitable company in Central and East Africa with a market capitalisation of $15 billion. Sylvia Mulinge was Safaricom’s youngest director.
In her new position, she replaces Wim Vanhelleputte, who will take up the new position of MTN Group Operations Director: Markets. In this position, the former CEO of MTN Côte d’Ivoire will use his experience to drive financial inclusion and strengthen MTN’s position as market leader.
Sylvia Mulinge finally becomes CEO of a telecommunications company, 3 years after her appointment as head of Vodacom Tanzania in 2018 was denied by the Tanzanian authorities who had not granted her a work permit. This permit, according to the Tanzanian authorities, is issued to expatriates working in “a rare profession” to work in Tanzanian companies. Tanzania’s position had raised doubts among some Kenyans about Tanzania’s commitment to the East African Community’s integration policies, which provide for the free movement of workers and capital.
After this episode, Sylvia Mulinge, had been appointed Director of Special Projects at Safaricom in September 2018 and took up her post on 1 October. This position had been created specifically to address the increased competition that was eroding Safaricom’s market share. In this position, Sylvia Mulinge was responsible for leading Safaricom’s commercial renaissance and helping the company to implement its strategy and transform Safaricom into a future-ready company.
Prior to her appointment as CEO of Vodacom Tanzania, Sylvia Mulinge was Head of the Consumer Business Unit of Safaricom, a company she joined in 2006 from Unilever. Sylvia Mulinge led the business unit to become the largest provider of business communication services and the preferred partner for Kenyan businesses, while achieving strong revenue and customer growth. She was instrumental in the expansion of Safaricom’s retail shops, turning them into viable profit centres.
At Unilever, where she worked for over 5 years in Kenya and South Africa, Sylvia Mulinge gained extensive and diverse experience in customer development, innovation management, trade marketing, field sales and brand management.
Sylvia Mulinge holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Nairobi, where she graduated with First Class Honors; and an Executive MBA from the University of Capetown, South Africa.
Sylvia Mulinge has been named one of Kenya’s 40 most influential women under 40 for three consecutive years.
In January 2015, she was selected as a 2015 Young Global Leader (YSL) by the World Economic Forum, which honours the world’s most prominent leaders under the age of 40.
Sylvia Mulinge sits on several boards and was one of the five board members of the Safaricom Spark Venture Fund, Kenya’s first ever entrepreneurial fund for Kenyan entrepreneurs, appointed by the Safaricom board. The Safaricom Spark Venture Fund is a $1 million venture capital fund that invests in seed and early growth companies that use mobile technology as a catalyst. Sylvia Mulinge’s role was to provide thought leadership and governance to the fund through her experience and knowledge of the industry, as well as to provide overall management of the fund. She was also a board member of the Safaricom Foundation and a local bank.
