MTN Group has appointed former Nigerian Central Bank governor and current Emir of Kano Lamido Sanusi to its global board.
MTN has also named South Africa’s former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas as chairman-designate in a board shake-up announced Friday. Vincent Rague, a Kenyan national who worked for the International Finance Corporation for 24 years in a number of senior positions was also named to the board.
Jonas will assume the position of chairman of MTN Group effective on Dec. 15 once Chairman Phuthuma Nhleko steps down, MTN said in a statement
The appointment of Sanusi comes barely one month after MTN CEO Rob Shuter CEO was asked by BusinessDay Nigeria why no Nigerian sits on the company’s global board given the size of the contribution of the Nigerian unit to the group.
“I do believe that MTN group would be better served to have more representation from its large markets, particularly West Africa and East Africa and I am hopeful that the board looks at this in the shorter term”, Shuter told BusinessDay.
“In recent years MTN Group has experienced challenging regulatory environments and highly competitive trading conditions,” it said, adding that the board has also managed the transition of senior management during the period.
“The board is of the view that MTN Group has entered a more stable and settled phase, enabling it to now affect an evolution of the board.”
