MTN strengthens its leadership structures

MTN has made key appointments to bolster its leadership structures within MTN Group and at its key operations in Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa.

Michael Ikpoki, currently the CEO of MTN Ghana, is the new CEO of MTN Nigeria. Serame Taukobong, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of MTN SA, is the new CEO of MTN Ghana. Brian Gouldie, Chief Customer Sales, Service and Distribution Officer at MTN SA, is the new CMO of MTN SA. Farhad Khan, Executive for the Group Enterprise Business Unit, takes over from Gouldie as Chief Customer Sales, Service and Distribution Officer at MTN SA. Philisiwe Sibiya, Executive in Group Finance, is the new Chief Financial Officer of MTN SA.

"MTN has a strong leadership bench strength. As part of its talent management and leadership development, MTN invests significantly towards building a sustainable supply of quality leaders. We are therefore pleased to make these announcements drawn from our leadership succession pool," said MTN Group President and CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa.

Ikpoki replaces Brett Goschen, who took on the role of Group Chief Financial Officer and Executive Financial Director on the Board, on Monday. Ikpoki was appointed CEO of MTN Ghana in April 2011 after successfully running MTN Nigeria's Sales and Distribution channel as its Executive from 2006. He joined MTN in 2001 as a Regulatory Advisor after a six-year stint with the Nigerian Communications Commission's legal division.

A seasoned business executive, Ikpoki brings to his new role a rich academic profile that includes a General Management Programme at Harvard Business School, Sales from INSEAD Business School, Finance and Analytics from Lagos Business School and an LLB degree from Rivers State University of Science and Technology.

Taukobong is a talented executive with extensive marketing, operations and sales experience. He was appointed Group Marketing and Sales Executive for MTN International in 2002, after joining from M-Net Channels, where he was Marketing Director. And two years after joining MTN, he became the Chief Operations Officer at MTN Uganda.

In 2006, he assumed the role of Sales and Distribution Executive at MTN Irancell, where, among his achievements, he established a distribution footprint of over 7 000 points of presence. He returned to MTN Group as Executive for Global Brand and Sponsorships in 2007. He became the CMO of MTN SA in 2009. In 2011, he was voted Sunday Times Marketer of the Year. Taukobong was the brains behind the famous Ayoba campaign, which has won numerous awards in South Africa and globally.

Sibiya completed her studies at the University of Natal and subsequently qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Prior to joining MTN, she served with Arthur Anderson, Prime Media and Cell C.

She has extensive financial experience in the telecoms sector, gained over a 10-year period. She has held various positions in the Group Finance function in the last seven years, including consolidations, management reporting and technical accounting.

Khan is the former CEO of MTN Zambia. He was also the Executive for Marketing and Customer Relations at MTN Irancell. Before that, he was the General Manager for Marketing at MTN SA.

Gouldie has extensive experience in finance, billing and collections, systems development, call centre management, procurement and distribution. He accepted his first executive position as the Customer Operations Executive with MTN Nigeria. After re-joining MTN SA in 2006, Gouldie gained considerable experience in Sales and Distribution.