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Former MTN CEO joins Gijima

Paula Gilbert
By Paula Gilbert, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 27 May 2016
Sifiso Dabengwa left MTN in November 2015 with a R23.6 million golden parachute.
Sifiso Dabengwa left MTN in November 2015 with a R23.6 million golden parachute.

Former MTN CEO Sifiso Dabengwa is joining Gijima as a non-executive director.

Gijima confirmed to ITWeb via e-mail that Dabengwa would join the ICT company's board together with Alan Farthing and Clive Butkow, "which is part of the organisation's overall strategy".

It would give no further details on Dabengwa's role or his appointment date, saying more info would "be shared in due course".

Dabengwa left MTN in early November 2015, two weeks after it announced it was facing a $5.2 billion (R81 billion) fine in Nigeria for failing to disconnect 5.1 million subscribers in the country by a regulatory deadline.

He left with a R23.6 million golden parachute for "compensation for loss of office".

Seven months later, the Nigerian fine is yet to be settled, although it has since been reduced by 25% to $3.9 billion (R61 billion).

Dabengwa was MTN CEO between March 2011 and November 2015. He joined MTN as managing director of the South African operations in 2004. He was then promoted to COO and, in a dual role, served as CEO of MTN Nigeria until 2006.

Prior to joining the MTN Group, he was an executive director at Eskom. Dabengwa has a BSc Electrical Engineering and an MBA degree.

Farthing was CFO of Business Connexion until 2007 and has since been working as a financial consultant.

Butkow is CEO and CIO of venture capital company Grotech, and previously worked as COO of Accenture South Africa.

Gijima CEO Eileen Wilton recently told ITWeb in an interview that a turnaround strategy at the ICT company was progressing satisfactorily.

"The turnaround has paid off, and we have been able to focus on getting the financial operating model of the company in line. We have been able to focus on our funding arrangements as well as funding partners and entered into new arrangements, which ensure the turnaround is supported by the underlying arrangements," she said.

Gijima delisted from the JSE in May 2015 after being the worst performing stock on the bourse over a five-year period, dropping 89% in value over that time.

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