MTN revolt

MTN is in turmoil with executive infighting at the highest level and an exodus of top leaders at the company’s South African operations.

Sunday Times reported unhappiness over the company’s direction under chief executive Ralph Mupita, who took the reins on 1 September 2020.

“Executives are threatening to quit en masse over his leadership style amid allegations of a lack of accountability and favouritism,” the newspaper reported.

One of the main problems is Mupita’s close relationship with a high-level female group executive, whose name is known to Daily Investor.

According to sources in the company, Mupita is stripping executives of their authority and putting her in charge of many areas.

The issue has reached the MTN board, and a whistleblower complaint has led to the board appointing a law firm to investigate the matter.

Daily Investor has learned that the turmoil at the group level extended well into MTN South Africa.

An executive at MTN told Daily Investor that there is a battle between MTN SA executives and group executives amid directives from Mupita about the transfer of authority to the female executive.

There are plans to move parts of the MTN South Africa business to the group, which the local operation is fighting against.

However, one MTN source told Daily Investor that the Sunday Times report is only one piece of the puzzle. The leadership challenges run deeper than only Mupita and the female executive.

The source told Daily Investor that MTN South Africa has lost many top executives in recent years and that the working environment has become unstable.

Former MTN South Africa CEO Godfrey Motsa unexpectedly resigned in December 2021 without any other position lined up.

He was a respected and charismatic chief executive who was seen as likeable and excellent at building high-performance teams. He was also a strong commercial strategist and marketeer.

Many MTN employees credit Motsa with MTN’s turnaround and overtaking Vodacom as the best mobile network in South Africa. His resignation was only the start.

Over the last two years, there has been an executive exodus, which included many respected high-level leaders in the telecoms industry.

In May 2024, Bradwin Roper, MTN South Africa’s chief financial service officer, resigned after only a year in the position.

MTN South Africa also lost its CTO Giovanni Chiarelli, Supersonic CEO Calvin Collett, and chief strategy officer Marco Gagiano.

Chiarelli left MTN South Africa in December 2021 and was replaced by Michele Gamberini. However, he left MTN South Africa in July 2023 after less than 18 months.

Others who left include the chief sales officer Phillip Besiimire, sales executive Nico Jacobs, and new Supersonic CEO Megan Nicholas.

MTN South Africa has also lost its chief corporate affairs and communications officer, Jacqui O’Sullivan, and general manager, Philana Oberholzer.

MTN insiders told Daily Investor that most executives left the company because of challenges with leadership.

What was striking is that many of these executives departed without a new job. This substantiates the claim of unhappiness at the company rather than new opportunities.

The separate reports of upheaval at MTN and the executive exodus at MTN South Africa point to problems at the company.

We asked MTN Group for comment on the problems at the company, but they passed the queries to the company’s investor relations.

The MTN investor relations team did not provide feedback by the time of publication.