MTN appoints execs

Johannesburg, 22 Mar 2007

The MTN Group has appointed CEOs for its Rwanda and Swaziland operations.

Themba Khumalo, currently CEO of MTN Swaziland, has been appointed as the new CEO of MTN Rwanda.

Additionally, Tebogo Mogapi, who serves as acting executive of the consumer business unit at MTN SA, has been appointed CEO of MTN Swaziland. Khumalo and Mogapi's positions are effective from 1 April.

Khumalo joined MTN, in Swaziland, in 1999 as chief technical officer and saw to the company's network and services roll-out.

Since he took up the position of CEO in 2003, he has grown the subscriber base from 70 000 to 255 000, as at 30 September 2006. MTN Swaziland also significantly increased its penetration in the Swaziland market during Khumalo's tenure, with geographic coverage growing to 83% of the country. Population coverage increased to 90%.

Khumalo, who has 26 years' experience in fixed and mobile telecoms, holds an MSc in electrical engineering from the University of Iowa, in the US.

He began his career in 1982 at Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation and has held senior positions at MTN SA and Telkom.

Mogapi, who joined MTN SA in 2000 as a regional manager of corporate services, was deployed to MTN Nigeria in 2001 as a channel manager and was responsible for setting up the distribution network.

He later assumed the position of regional manager of MTN's eastern region operations, followed by a stint as sales and distribution GM for the eastern region. In 2006, he returned to MTN SA to take up his current position in the consumer business unit.

MTN Group president and CEO Phuthuma Nhleko says these executive appointments support the company's plan to leverage existing talent within MTN, while striving to create a multinational organisation. It will continue to attract new individuals to the company, he says.