Charles Mbiire, the MTN Uganda Board Chairman and 3rd largest shareholder has assured customers, staff, shareholders and other stakeholders that Sylvia Mulinge, the new Chief Executive Officer is the board’s best choice to push ahead the company’s Ambition 2025 strategy that seeks to create shared stakeholder value.
Mr. Mbiire, under whose chairmanship MTN has grown from a second licensee to Uganda’s largest telecom and company, by revenue, was speaking at a press conference to officially handover instruments of work to Ms. Mulinge, whose appointment was announced in June 2022.
“MTN is now committed to delivering the Ambition 2025 strategy of leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress. The key priorities in this strategy include building the largest and most valuable platforms, driving industry-leading connectivity operations, creating shared value, and accelerating our portfolio transformation,” he said.
“We are therefore very confident that our new CEO’s passion for transforming customers’ lives, leadership, and women empowerment using technology will help drive our accelerated growth, positioning MTN for greater relevance ahead,” said a confident Mbiire.
Sylvia officially took office on 4th October 2022 and officially succeeds Wim Vanhelleputte who took a new role in the West African markets within the MTN Group on 1st August.
Mbiire said Sylvia, brings to MTN “a wealth of experiences boasting of a strong and successful career of 15 years in the telecom industry alone.”
He said that prior to joining MTN Uganda, Sylvia has been serving as the Chief Consumer Business Officer at Safaricom PLC since 2018. She also held various roles since joining the company in 2006, including prepay product manager, head of retail, head of Safaricom Business – Sales, General Manager, Enterprise Business, and Director, Consumer Business.
“I would like to reassure all our stakeholders inclusive of our staff, business partners, shareholders, and the government of Uganda that MTN Uganda is in capable hands that we believe, collectively as a board of directors will take the company to greater heights whilst driving shared value for everyone in the MTN Uganda ecosystem. I, therefore, would like to implore you all to offer her support as she takes our company to the next level,” he said, adding: “Welcome to the best team, Sylvia.”
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“I am happy to be joining a winning team on whose great experience and support I can count,” Ms. Mulinge said, adding: “Standing on the shoulders of giants, I am ready to take up the challenge and build on my predecessors’ achievements and steer MTN Uganda to greater heights through strategic partnerships and further leverage MTN as the most trusted and valued brand that it already is.”
Ms. Mulinge further said she was looking forward to a good working relationship with various stakeholders including MTN staff, shareholders, regulators, business partners, and the government to create, “a conducive and sustainable operating environment, that will help us close the digital divide, and ensure that no one is left behind as we spearhead Africa’s progress in innovation, digitization and connectivity.”
About MTN Uganda
MTN Uganda is a leading telecoms company in Uganda with a primary objective of carrying on the business of a national operator of a telecommunications network pursuant to the National Telecommunications Operator (NTO) license granted by the Uganda Telecommunications Commission (UCC). Among our offerings are network services, digital and financial technology services, interconnect and roaming, sale of mobile devices and MTN Mobile Money (which is conducted through subsidiary MTN Mobile Money Uganda Limited). MTN has a presence in all 134 districts of Uganda. services are delivered through a network of over 120,000 Mobile Money agents, 200 service stores and 13 main distributors. At end of Quarter 1 2022, MTN Uganda had 16.3 million subscribers, 9.8 million MoMo users and 5.7million active data users.
MTN Uganda is part of the MTN Group, a major emerging market operator with over 240 million customers in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East.