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MTN searches for new CEO

Paula Gilbert
By Paula Gilbert, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 07 Mar 2016
Executive chairman Phuthuma Nhleko says MTN is looking "in every nook and cranny" for a new CEO.
Executive chairman Phuthuma Nhleko says MTN is looking "in every nook and cranny" for a new CEO.

MTN hopes to announce a new CEO in the second quarter of this year, saying the search for a new leader is "well under way".

"We are looking in every nook and cranny where you can find a good CEO and the intention is that within the next two months or so we can come up with a name," executive chairman Phuthuma Nhleko told journalists at a media briefing following MTN's annual results presentation last week.

MTN has been without a group CEO since November 2015, when Sifiso Dabengwa resigned from his role in the midst of troubled times for the company in Nigeria. A few weeks before his resignation, MTN had announced it was facing a $5.2 billion (R80 billion) fine from the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) for failing to disconnect 5.1 million unregistered SIM cards on its Nigerian network. The fine was later reduced by 25% to $3.9 billion (R60 billion).

Nhleko would not disclose how many candidates were in the running for the top job at the telecoms operator but says "there is meaningful interest".

He says the next CEO needs to be someone whom the MTN board sees as having the balance to take the company forward for the next 10 years.

"The company has evolved; in 1994 it was just South Africa, today it is also 21 other countries in different regions of the world, so we want somebody who would be able to address the company's current situation in terms of where it operates and its evolution," he says.

Nhleko took up the reins after Dabengwa's exit but says his role is just temporary and he is driving the search for a new CEO.

The company's full year results were hit hard by the pending fine, with basic headline earnings per share falling over 51% for the year. The drop was largely due to a provision of almost R9.3 billion for the fine.

Last month, the company paid $250 million (R3.8 billion) of that provision towards reaching a settlement with Nigerian officials.

However, Nhleko clarified the provision is just a calculation based on prevailing circumstances and is not the final number for the fine settlement, which is yet to be confirmed.

The Nigerian saga also saw MTN Nigeria CEO, Michael Ikpoki, and head of regulatory and corporate affairs, Akinwale Goodluck, tender their resignations in early December.

The MTN group has 232.5 million subscribers across 22 countries in Africa and the Middle East ? 61.3 million of which are in Nigeria.

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