Behind every billion-shilling leap in revenue, every surge in subscriber numbers, and every bold Fintech innovation at MTN Uganda is more than just strategy—it’s a story of people.
A story of a sharp, diverse, and execution-driven leadership team that has turned ambition into action and growth into dominance. This is the powerhouse behind the performance. This is The Yellow Machine.
MTN Uganda has long been a dominant force in the country’s telecom sector, but over the past two years, the company has entered a new era of accelerated and multidimensional growth, powered by a dynamic Executive Committee and the transformative leadership of CEO Sylvia Wairimu Mulinge.
Since taking the helm in October 2022, Mulinge, MTN Uganda’s first female CEO, has not only consolidated growth but has opened the telecom to new and diversified opportunities.
Backed by a high-performing leadership team, she has driven the execution of the Ambition 2025 strategy with renewed intensity, unlocking exceptional gains across subscribers, data, Fintech, and profitability.
The numbers speak volumes. From 2022 to 2024 alone, active data users more than doubled from 4.7 million to 10.1 million (a CAGR of 46.6%), Fintech users grew from 8.5 million to 13.8 million (CAGR of 27.4%), and service revenue surged from UGX 2.06 trillion to UGX 3.14 trillion (CAGR of 23.5%).
Over the same period, data and Fintech revenues grew at 32.7% and 24.8% respectively, while Mobile Money (MoMo) transaction value rose to UGX 158.6 trillion in 2024—up 248.6% from 2020 – profit after tax more than doubled to UGX 642 billion.
These milestones culminated in a strong start to 2025, with first-quarter results signaling even further momentum.
In light of this extraordinary leap forward, CEO East Africa Magazine turns its spotlight to the team driving this transformation. Who are the leaders behind the numbers? What strategies, capabilities, and culture are powering Uganda’s most profitable company?
In this special feature, we unpack “The Yellow Machine”—MTN’s EXCO team—and explore how collective leadership, bold thinking, and disciplined execution are redefining what success looks like in Uganda’s corporate boardrooms.
Sylvia Mulinge – Chief Executive Officer
The MTN EXCO Team is led by Sylvia Wairimu Mulinge, who assumed office following the exit of former CEO Wim Vanhelleputte, who was promoted to a regional executive role responsible for MTN Group’s West African markets.
Mulinge, whose tenure in office commenced on 1st October, 2022, is the first-ever female CEO at MTN Uganda, with a track record of executive business experience spanning more than two decades, 15 years of which is in the telecom industry
Before taking the reigns at MTN, Mulinge served as the Chief Consumer Business Officer at Safaricom from 2018, where she was credited for driving the telecom’s customer obsession strategy to deliver long-term shareholder growth and create preference for the Safaricom brand.
Since joining Safaricom in 2006, Mulinge served in various roles, including prepay product manager, head of retail, head of business–sales, general manager enterprise business, and director of consumer business.
Mulinge joined MTN just nine months after listing on the Uganda Securities Exchange in December 2021.
Thus, she inherited a business with a total subscriber base of 16.3 million subscribers as of June 2022.
She was expected to spearhead the achievement of Ambition 2025 strategy that seeks to play a leading role in providing digital solutions through driving industry-leading connectivity operations, creating shared value, and accelerating portfolio transformation.
Speaking shortly after assuming office, Mulinge showed enthusiasm for starting a new career in Uganda and specifically at MTN, pledging to build on her predecessors’ strong foundation.
She is the chair of the MTN Mobile Money board and Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association in Kenya, and also serves as a member on several other boards, such as the President’s Award – Kenya, which is the leading youth achievement award in Kenya, equipping young people for life.
She has received several awards including the Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear in Kenya which is given for distinguished services to public dignitaries, exemplary members of the public service, and other professionals.
She appeared in the second publication of 100 Most Influential African Women in 2020 by Avance Media and was acknowledged as Kenya’s Top 25 Women in Digital by Digitalk.
She was also named among the Top 40 Women Under 40 in Kenya by Business Daily Africa, a premier daily business newspaper published by Nation Media Group.
In 2023, she was recognized among the top 45 most influential women in digital transformation in Africa by the Prestigious CIO Africa and among Uganda’s most outstanding 2022 CEOs by the Business times Uganda magazine.
In 2024, she emerged as Uganda’s most admired CEO in the CEO East Africa Magazine’s inaugural 100 Leading & Most Admired CEOs in Uganda.
And more recently, in February 2025, she was recognised as the best CEO across all 20 African countries where MTN operates.
Mulinge is a recipient of the 2015 Young Global Leader award and an alumnus of the University of Nairobi with a Bachelor’s of Food Science and Technology.
She is also a certified executive coach and mentor in both her personal and professional life.
Andrew Bugembe – chief financial officer
Andrew is one of the longest-serving employees at MTN Uganda, and partly at Group level, having joined the telecom in 1998 with his first job being a Fixed Asset Controller.
He took over the Chief Financial Officer role in 2020, replacing Mike Blackburn, who retired having served as the CFO since 2011.
In his position, Andrew is part of the dynamic leadership team of MTN that boasts 16 members, four of whom are women.
At the time of his appointment, Bugembe had spent 21 years in the telecom industry, holding executive and senior management roles in finance, including MTN Liberia and MTN Congo Brazzaville CFO.
After being away from Uganda for almost 10 years, he returned and has since been a key figure in the telecom’s finance division and contributed to the remarkable success as the country embarks on a digital journey.
His robust career at MTN has seen him serve in five different countries.
Some of the key highlights of his career at MTN include concluding a $300m syndicated medium-term facility, in a project finance deal that won an award for the best telecoms deal in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in 2012.
He took over the CFO role at a difficult time when the company’s revenues had been threatened by Covid-19.
However, the seasoned accountant was no stranger to operating amidst disasters.
He had previously spent a lot of time resizing the cost structures for a couple of MTN Group’s operating countries to align with changing macro-economic trends, especially during the Ebola crisis in West Africa and the drop in oil prices, while in Central Africa.
As CFO of the country’s highest taxpayer, Bugembe has helped drive the company’s profitability, ensured effective and efficient capital allocation, and supported service revenue growth through data analytics with focus on non-voice revenues.
He played a key role in supporting key transformation initiatives, building internal capacity, supporting digitization with focus on Fintech in addition to continuous cost optimization and improving working capital management, among others.
he holds a Master of Commerce in Management Accounting from the University of Wollongong in Australia, and a Bachelor’s of Commerce from Rajasthan Vidypeeth University in India. He is a Chartered Accountant.
He is a passionate, curious, and adaptive person, having lived, studied, and worked in seven countries.
Outside work, he read books or journals. He is a huge fan of the Mercedes-Benz team in Formula 1 and a loyal Arsenal supporter.
He also enjoys travelling, exploring cultures, and having time to himself and family. He is married with two sons.
Thomas Motlepa – chief technology & information officer
Thomas Motlepa has over two decades of experience in the telecommunications and technology sectors.
Known for his leadership in network optimization, digital transformation, and operational efficiency, Motlepa has held key leadership positions across several MTN markets, including Ghana, Zambia, and Nigeria.
During his time in Ghana, he spearheaded the rollout of 4G services, significantly enhancing network performance and customer satisfaction.
At MTN Uganda, Motlepa is tasked with driving technological innovations and ensuring the telecom’s network capabilities remain robust and future-ready.
His leadership has already been instrumental in optimizing MTN’s infrastructure and delivering cutting-edge services to customers.
Motlepa’s approach combines deep technical expertise with a customer-first mindset, ensuring that MTN continues to lead in providing reliable and innovative digital and telecommunications solutions.
Enid Edroma – general manager, corporate services and company secretary
Edroma has extensive experience in corporate and legal affairs, commercial transactions, corporate governance, regulatory compliance, and risk advisory
She began her career as a corporate legal service officer at Shell Uganda from October 2003 until she joined Celtel, and later Zain, in January 2007 as the head of legal and regulatory affairs.
She would later join Smile Communications Uganda in May 2009 as the General Manager of Commercial Legal Services, before becoming the Board Secretary and Director of Legal at the National Identification Registration Authority between June 2016 and 2018.
Edroma has also previously worked with National Insurance Corporation, and consulted in commercial, legal, and regulatory advisory services for Pygma Consults, South Africa, for East Africa, Edroma and Company Advocates, where she was a Partner until May 2016, and as a lecturer at the Law Development Centre from 2012 to 2016.
On June 22, 2018, MTN appointed Edroma as the head legal and regulatory affairs.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws from Makerere University and a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre.
She’s an advocate of the High Court of Uganda, a member of the Uganda Law Society and the East Africa Law Society.
Ms. Juliet K Nsubuga- managing director, Bayobab Uganda
Ms. Juliet Kakai Nsubuga has spent close to two decades at MTN Uganda has grown through the ranks to become one of the four women that make up the top line leadership of Uganda’s leading telecom company and the country’s biggest taxpayer.
Currently the Managing Director, Bayobab Uganda and General Manager, MTN Wholesale Business Unit, a digital infrastructure company owned by MTN Group, formerly known as MTN GlobalConnect.
Rebranded to Bayobab in May 2023 as part of MTN’s strategy to carve out and independently position its infrastructure assets such as operations extensive fibre network, subsea cables,tower infrastructure and wholesale connectivity solutions to other Internet Service Providers.
In February 2025, Bayobab Uganda completed a 260km fibre route built along the Uganda Railways Corporation line, linking Kampala to the Kenyan border towns of Malaba and Tororo.
The newly launched long-distance fibre network provides the lynchpin for interconnectivity between Uganda and Kenya, and onward connection to subsea cables at Mombasa, Kenya.
Ms. Nsubuga also manages telecom to telecom partnerships that enable MTN customers to have a great service experience when out of the country through roaming and locally when they call to other networks; as well as managing infrastructure services to other telecom providers.
Her obligation is to ensure that the infrastructure is right, the service is great, and channels of delivery are robust to serve the customers directly or indirectly.
She started her career as a Customer Care Coordinator with Shell Uganda before East African Breweries Limited in 1999.
She joined MTN Uganda in 2004 to lead the transformation of Business Markets and to set up the Government Sector as Manager, Government & Public sector.
Her previous roles at MTN Uganda include Senior Manager Sales Operations, Senior Manager Business Sales and Manager Government Sales.
Ms. Nsubuga was part of the team that initiated and delivered the successful electronic airtime distribution platform.
It is a project seamlessly ushered in electronic airtime distribution when the Government issued the directive to the industry.
With over two and half decades of sales and marketing experience, she holds a Masters in Economic Policy and Planning from the Faculty of Economics and Management (FEMA-Makerere University), and a Bachelors in Business Administration Makerere University Business School. She is also an Associate Member of the UK Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).
She is a graduate of the MTN Academy leadership & Development programme, attended a number of prestigious managerial and leadership related courses including the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS-University of Pretoria) “Future Leadership Investment Growing High Potential Talent programme “(FLIGHT).
A high achiever with a solid track record, She defines herself on LinkedIn as, “a self-confident, eloquent and dignified leader with a suave and influential smartness.”
Throughout her career, she consistently generated additional footfall and revenue for every company she has worked for, leaving behind a commendable legacy.
Ms. Nsubuga is a devoted wife and mother who enjoys spending time with her family, travelling and youth outreach through her church community.
Franklin Kano Ocharo – general manager, growth and mew business
He has over 18 years of experience in product management, business development, and commercial strategy.
His career has been marked by his ability to drive growth through innovative products and market expansion.
Before joining MTN Uganda, Ocharo played a pivotal role at Safaricom, where he tripled the number of homes connected to fixed data services and introduced converged mobile solutions that enhanced customer retention and satisfaction.
At MTN, Ocharo has been key in expanding the company’s market reach and developing new business avenues.
His expertise in leveraging data analytics and understanding customer needs has been critical in identifying emerging opportunities and delivering tailored solutions.
According to his LinkedIn, Ocharo is a graduate of the University of Nairobi, and holds other academic qualifications from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and Strathmore Business School.
Peace Kabatangare Zulu – general manager, internal audit and forensics
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She is a chartered accountant with over 13 years of experience in internal audit, risk management, and forensics.
In her previous role as Chief Internal Auditor at New Vision Printing and Publishing Company Ltd, Zulu led efforts to strengthen governance and enhance internal controls, bringing a wealth of expertise in compliance and operational efficiency.
At MTN, she oversees internal audit and consulting activities, ensuring that operations are aligned with best practices in governance and accountability and support the telecom’s goal of maintaining integrity and transparency.
Under her leadership, MTN, has continued to optimize its processes and mitigate risks, reinforcing its commitment to responsible business practices.
She has over a decade of experience in transforming businesses through governance, strategy delivery, and performance management.
She has hands-on management experience, combined with a track record of success across diverse industry sectors and multicultural teams that empower her to deliver strategic outcomes.
She holds ACCA, CPA, and CIA certificates and has a Master’s of Business from the Edinburgh School of Business, Heriot-Watt University.
Dorcas Muhwezi – general manager, customer experience
She has significant experience in customer care and operations.
She has served in several leadership positions within MTN, including general manager, customer experience, acting general manager, sales and distribution, senior manager, network quality assurance, manager, quality assurance and fixed lines, senior fixed line planning engineer
Muhwezi’s core role in MTN is to ensure that the voice of the customer is incorporated into all aspects of the business and provide a strategic direction by ensuring overall responsibility for driving customer experience.
She was instrumental in leading the operational team through the SIM registration process that took place from November to December 2015 and has been ongoing since then.
She holds a Bachelors of Engineering in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Manchester, UK, and a Master of Science in Computer Science and Communication Engineering from the Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Germany.
Ibrahim Senyonga- general manager, business unit
His core role in MTN is to develop compelling value propositions for enterprise business and to create and implement strategies to drive corporate sales revenue and customer satisfaction.
He is responsible for developing compelling value propositions for Enterprise Business as well as creating and implementing strategies to drive corporate sales revenue and customer satisfaction with the support of a highly motivated winning team.
He has over 16 years’ experience, mostly obtained from banking, having worked in different roles such as regional manager at dfcu, head of retail banking and acting executive director at KCB.
Owing to his previous employment and assignments in the financial services sector, Senyonga has a deep experience in strategic governance, strategic planning and leadership, business development and relationship management, sales channels development and expansion, risk and operational control management.
At his appointment, he observed that telecommunications remains important that is relevant to the growth of all sectors, being at the center of the paradigm shift in how businesses operate, as communication and digital services continue to be more embedded in the needs of society.
He holds Mthe BA in Finance from University of Leicester (UK) and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Makerere University.
He also holds various certificates, such as in economics from OXFORD University (UK) and Aquis Accredited Asset and Liabilities Management from INSEAD (France).
Outside work, he loves watching football and he is a loyal supporter of KCCA FC locally, Real Madrid in Europe, and Leicester FC in the UK.
Besides watching the game, he also takes a keen interest in studying top football coaches to understand their strategies.
Joseph Bogera – general manager, sales and distribution
He began his career with MTN as a business account manager.
He has significant professional and practical multi-sectoral experience across trade, sales and distribution, having worked with private companies in Uganda and Africa, with notable previous postings to MTN Rwanda as a corporate sales manager and Uganda Breweries as a divisional sales manager.
Bogera also has regional sales and distribution experience and knowledge, having previously worked for Brightstar Africa Telecom Solutions (South Africa) as country manager for the Eastern and Southern Africa region, covering 11 countries.
He describes his career as a ‘foot soldier’ in diverse markets and working on diverse products.
He has also previously worked as general manager GOtv, a Multichoice brand, where he led the transformation of GOtv from a flat to a profit-making entity, through launching must have packages such as the Pearl Magic Channel, now a leader in content development.
At MTN, he has previously designed routes to market Blackberry handsets across 11 Eastern and Southern Africa, introduced Tecno handsets to operators in Zambia, Botswana, Uganda, and the DRC, as well as executed the distributor management role for Samsung, through robust demand planning and supply balancing while at Brightstarcorp.
He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Makerere University, a Master of Arts in Economic Policy Management Degree from Makerere University and an Introduction to Trade and Development certificate from the Trade Policy Centre in Africa from Lund University, Sweden.
Richard Yego – MTN Mobile Money managing director
With over two decades of experience in the financial sector, occupying several senior roles, Yego boasts a stellar track record in successfully steering disruption in the digital financial services space.
Prior to his appointment at MTN, Yego worked as the CEO of the Agent Banking Company of Uganda, where he was responsible for the overall operations of the Joint Venture Entity of Uganda Bankers’ Association and Eclectics International.
In the same role, he supported the implementation and roll-out of an inter-operable shared agent banking technology and agent network infrastructure across Uganda, a move which fast-tracked financial inclusion by ushering convenience in the uptake of digital financial Services among the banked, underserved, and unbanked population.
At MTN, Yego has been able to shape the direction of the Mobile Financial Services business through providing strategic leadership in the use of technology innovatively to improve and automate the delivery of financial services.
Under his leadership MTN MoMo continues to post impressive growth across all key performance indicators solidifying its position as a dominant force in Uganda’s digital financial services landscape.
In 2024, revenues from the MoMo business surged by 22.8% to UGX 947.5 billion, driven by a robust increase in both transaction volume and value.
The platform processed a staggering UGX 158.6 trillion in transaction value, marking a 19.9% year-on-year growth.
Transaction volumes also jumped significantly, reaching 4.3 billion—an increase of 26.6%—a clear sign of deepening customer engagement and usage.
Yego’s tenure has been marked by steady subscriber growth, with the number of registered MoMo users rising by 13.9% to 13.8 million.
MTN MoMo’s expanding reach is also evident in its growing ecosystem of agents and merchants.
The agent network grew by 36.8% to 212,500, while the merchant base rose by 19.6% to 85,900—both critical to increasing accessibility and driving adoption at the grassroots.
Yego holds a bachelor’s in Economics from Makerere University, bolstered by several other qualifications and certifications in digital financial Services.
Nicholas Beijuka – general manager, capital projects
He has rich experience and specialist knowledge in audit and risk management, project management, accounting, economics and general management having served in several senior management positions within MTN and other leading private entities such as Citibank Uganda.
Beijuka manages and oversees MTN’s capital projects and expenditures and engenders continuity and alignment of MTN’s capital expenditures with MTN’s overall mission, vision and business interests.
In 2024 alone, Beijuka oversaw over UGX 418 billion investments in critical data, customer experience, and network resilience projects.
The expansion of the home business, Wakanet, resulted in an extensive fibre rollout across the country. 876 sites were upgraded to the latest technology and new frequencies, while over 168 additional sites were built.
As a certified public accountant, Beijuka was previously assigned to a leading accounting and audit firm, Ernst & Young, where he led a team of auditors on notable audit assignments.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Makerere University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Project Planning and Management from Uganda Management Institute.
Kenneth Kiddu – general manager, business intelligence
He has over 20 years’ experience in technical, marketing, and business intelligence aspects of the telecommunications industry, having served in different roles in MTN.
He oversees MTN’s business planning function from a sales and distribution perspective and monitors MTN’s performance against targets and strategies.
Kiddu possesses significant experience in enterprise portfolio management, interconnection and roaming engineering, business analysis, product development, and pricing.
He also has regional telecommunications industry exposure and experience through secondments to MTN Cote d’Ivoire and MTN Guinea-Conakry.
Before joining MTN, Kiddu previously worked with Uganda Telecom and the Sheraton Kampala Hotel.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Makerere University and a Master of Business Administration from the MIP – Politecnico di Milano, School of Management, Milan, Italy.
Michael Sekadde – general manager, human resources
He currently oversees the human resource department of MTN and has over 25 years’ experience in human resource management, with most of this experience obtained at MTN, where he started as a training and development manager.
Sekadde has vast experience working across several human resource disciplines, including strategic human resource workforce planning, organisational design and effectiveness, and business training.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and Social Administration from Makerere University and a Master of Science in Management and Organizational Development from the US International University Africa in Nairobi.
Samuel Gitta – general manager, risk and compliance
He has over 16 years of work experience in information technology operations, information, communications, and technology advisory and consulting.
He also has experience in information technology risk management, cyber security advisory and risk management, new product and systems assurance, digital forensics, and enterprise-wide risk management.
He’s primarily responsible for implementing the MTN Group compliance and risk framework for MTN to effectively manage compliance with applicable laws and regulations and a common set of policies and procedures.
Gitta has served in various positions in MTN from entry-level IT systems administrator to senior management positions and has also worked with Ernst & Young as a technology analyst, where he participated in notable audit assignments.
He is also a member of several professional global associations, including the Global Association of Risk Professionals, Information Systems Audit and Control Association, and the Global Revenue Assurance Professionals Association.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science/Maths from Makerere University.
Mackinon Kabarole – general manager, acting chief marketing officer, MTN
He was appointed last year in October 2024 to lead MTN Uganda’s marketing function.
He has over 15 years of experience in telecoms, analytics, and strategic marketing across leading brands.
His core mandate is to execute MTN’s integrated marketing strategy, with a strong focus on customer acquisition, retention, and driving growth across voice, data, and fintech revenue streams.
Kabarole is central role in maintaining MTN’s market leadership in a fiercely competitive telecom landscape.
His portfolio includes developing and championing MTN’s brand positioning and digital transformation strategy, coordinating advertising and research initiatives, and leading efforts to elevate customer experience through data-driven decision-making.
Kabarole previously worked as a senior manager – consumer segments at MTN, where he led a team of segment managers to accelerate growth across MTN’s connectivity portfolio.
Before that, he was Senior Manager – Business Intelligence, where he oversaw data science, analytics, and research teams supporting MTN’s Ambition 2025 strategy.
His earlier roles at MTN included Customer Analytics & Planning Manager and Business Analyst, where he shaped planning, forecasting, and data interpretation for strategic insights.
Beyond MTN, Kabarole has extensive experience in business intelligence and product development, having worked at Africell as BI & Products Manager, and at Orange Uganda (later Africell) in various technical and coordination roles.
He also serves as a Partner – Analytics and BI at DNCE Group, where for over 14 years, he has contributed to enterprise data solutions and business modelling across East Africa.
His career began in financial services at Barclays Bank Uganda as a Customer Support Assistant – eBanking, where he handled online transactions, reconciliations, and systems testing.
Kabarole holds a Bachelor’s degree in Quantitative Economics from Makerere University, a Postgraduate Diploma in Project Planning and Management from Uganda Management Institute, and an MBA from the University of the People.
He has also earned professional certifications in business analysis, Six Sigma, pricing strategy, and enterprise analysis.
With a career defined by data, discipline, and direction, Kabarole brings to the CMO role a rare combination of strategic vision and executional depth—precisely the kind of leadership needed as MTN sharpens its focus on digital and customer-led growth.
