MTN South Africa has announced two major appointments as part of reviewing its executive structure, as the company gears up to deliver on its Ambition 2025 strategy.
The mobile telecoms operator aims to transform from a telco to techno and released a statement announcing the new appointments.
MTN SA said in line with this strategic shift, the company has hired Ernst Fonternel into the role of chief consumer officer and Divyesh Joshi as chief strategy and transformation Officer.
Both appointments were recruited internally and are effective from 1 October and the company said the new executive structure also sees the introduction of two new roles, including that of chief commercial operations officer and chief risk officer – it added that active recruiting for these positions is underway.
“The current top-tier structure has been optimal to enable us to evolve and grow the business to where we are today. However, in pursuit of Ambition 2025, the current structure needed to be optimised to adequately support our strategic ambition,” says MTN SA CEO Charles Molapisi.
“I am pleased to announce the appointments of Ernst and Divyesh, both of whom are internal appointments who bring a wealth of knowledge to these roles.”
Fonternel is an industry veteran and has served for well over two decades in the telecoms industry, the majority of which has been at MTN SA.
According to the company, Fonternel boasts strong commercial depth with a solid understanding of the SA mobile business models and distributors and currently leads the digital and online portfolios as a chief digital officer within the MTN SA business.
Molapisi added that they have considered how they can improve their speed to market with fewer layers and evolution.
“We’ve also considered how we can improve our speed to market with fewer layers and evolution of our platform-play as we deliver on Ambition 2025. Finally, we looked at how we can best drive transformation through convergence in the network and IT environments,” he added.
“The fast-paced world of telecommunications and technology requires an agile, responsive and pioneering leadership approach. To this end, our focus has been on defining, designing, and shaping a future-fit leadership model for MTN SA, leveraging the extensive experience and expertise within the senior leadership team.
Image: Ernst Fonternel/TechCentral