Mulinge Sylvia, a seasoned telecom executive who has spent 15 years at Safaricom PLC, a USD15 billion out-of-Kenya telecom behemoth. Shareholders will be looking up to her, to keep an aggressive yet penny-wise Airtel Uganda at bay.

The MTN Group has appointed seasoned telecom executive, Mulinge Sylvia as the next Chief Executive Officer for MTN Uganda.

When she assumes office, on 1st October 2022, she will be MTN’s first female Chief Executive Officer.

But who is she?

MTN Group President and CEO, Ralph Mupita, has described the present Safaricom PLC. Sylvia, Chief Consumer Business Officer at Safaricom PLC, is a “seasoned executive” who “brings with her a passion for transforming customers’ lives using technology.”

According to her LinkedIn profile, she is an all-around telecom expert who has spent nearly 15 years at Safaricom PLC, a USD15 billion out-of-Kenya telecom behemoth.

She rose from being the Prepay Product Manager (February 2006 – November 2007) to becoming, the Head of Retail (November 2007- November 200); Head of Safaricom Business -Sales (August 2009-April 2011); General Manager, Enterprise Business (May 2011-March 2015); Director, Consumer Business (March 2015-October 2018) and finally Chief Consumer Business Officer since July 2021.

As a Chief Consumer Business Officer, she was responsible for commercial leadership of a unit that accounts for 85% of the company’s revenue- spanning mobile data, mobile voice, fixed data and digital services; -consumer value management; commercial planning and pricing; brand marketing & communications; brand experience and championing digital transformation among others. 

Before Safaricom, she worked for Unilever Kenya, as the Brand Manager for Sunlight as well as the Regional Assistant, Brand Manager, for Laundry for Unilever South Africa.

She holds a University of Nairobi BSc- Food Science & Technology Degree.

She has attended several courses and professional programmes such as the IRG 100 Leadership Programme at the Institute for Real Growth in Amsterdam, the Netherlands as well as a Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching from The Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC) in London. She has attended the Scaling Entrepreneurial Ventures programme of the Harvard Business School as well as the Women Director’s Leadership Summit and The Effective Director programmes, both from the Strathmore Business School (SBS) in Nairobi Kenya.

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About the Author

Muhereza Kyamutetera is the Executive Editor of CEO East Africa Magazine. I am a travel enthusiast and the Experiences & Destinations Marketing Manager at EDXTravel. Extremely Ugandaholic. Ask me about #1000Reasons2ExploreUganda and how to Take Your Place In The African Sun.