MTN has announced a raft of changes to key leadership roles that will see Frédéric Schepens, CEO of fibre infrastructure business Bayobab, leaving the group with immediate effect.
As part of MTN’s broader success planning, the group periodically reshuffles its leadership structure. The last major shake-up took place in December 2023.
Schepens joined MTN in October 2017 as group executive, founder and CEO of Bayobab.
The group did not give reasons for his sudden departure, simply saying: “We thank Frédéric for his contributions and wish him success in his future endeavours.”
MTN has invested heavily to grow Bayobab, and is undertaking a R6bn project between East and West Africa. When this partnership with Africa50, connecting 10 countries by 2025, was announced in May 2023, MTN had 114,000km of fibre. This has since grown to 125,000km.
Taking over the leadership responsibility at the recently rebranded infrastructure business, Bayobab (formerly MTN Global Connect), is technology chief Mazen Mroué.
From the start of January, Mroué will assume additional responsibilities as CEO of digital infrastructure at the group. This new role will incorporate the mobility and fibre businesses of Bayobab, “along with executing our data centre strategy as we position MTN Group for growth and profitability in the development of AI across Africa.”
The group said he would continue to report to company boss Ralph Mupita and remain a member of the group executive committee (exco).
Mroué is an MTN veteran, having joined Africa’s largest mobile operator in 1998. He has held various senior positions within the company, including as CEO of MTN Uganda and COO roles at a number of operating companies.
MTN also announced that Wanda Matandela, chief commercial operations officer at MTN SA, had been appointed as the new CEO for MTN Cameroon, effective from March.
Matandela first joined MTN in 2018 as chief enterprise business officer “and drove the turnaround of this business”. Matandela comes with more than 20 years of experience, including 13 years in telecoms, as well as holding strategic roles in the fast-moving consumer goods and financial services sectors.
He serves on the boards of the company's internet service provider unit, Supersonic, and MTN Rwanda.
“His strong commercial and stakeholder management experience will be invaluable as he builds on the high impact and energy created under Mitwa Ng’ambi’s leadership, bringing new capabilities and insights to drive growth in Cameroon,” said MTN.
MTN Cameroon’s CEO, Mitwa Ng’ambi, will move to lead the Ivory Coast operation, effective from March. That is as outgoing Ivory Coast CEO Djibril Ouattara takes early retirement. As part of the handover, Ouattara will support Mitwa during her transition for a few months, said the company.
Ng’ambi, having served as MTN Cameroon head since September 2022, has more than 15 years of telecom experience. She is also chair of Mobile Money Corporation, MTN’s fintech subsidiary in Cameroon. Prior to Cameroon, Mitwa was CEO of MTN Rwanda “where she successfully led the renewal of the company’s licence and spearheaded its growth and listing on the Rwanda Stock Exchange”.
Previously, she held leadership positions at Airtel Tigo in Ghana and Tigo in Senegal.
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