MTN Group has announced a sweeping leadership reshuffle designed to sharpen execution of its growth strategy, with Karl Toriola, CEO of MTN Nigeria, taking on the additional role of Vice President for Francophone Africa effective November 1, 2025.
Toriola, who has successfully steered MTN Nigeria, the group’s largest and most profitable subsidiary since 2021, will now oversee operations in key Francophone markets including Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, and Congo Brazzaville. The move marks a return to familiar ground for the telecoms executive, who previously held senior leadership roles across Francophone West Africa before assuming the helm of MTN Nigeria. Importantly, Toriola will retain his role as CEO of MTN Nigeria, cementing his centrality in the company’s pan-African growth playbook.
The leadership changes come as MTN evaluates its Ambition 2025 strategy against a backdrop of shifting geopolitical, macroeconomic, and technological realities. While the Group’s board reaffirmed the strategy’s relevance, it highlighted the need to sharpen focus on three pillars, connectivity, fintech, and digital infrastructure as MTN moves into the next phase of its transformation.
“These leadership changes illustrate the depth of talent and experience we have across the Group,” said Ralph Mupita, MTN Group President and CEO, in a statement. “The changes will support the accelerated execution of our strategy beyond 2025 as well as greater value creation for stakeholders over the medium term.”
The restructuring spans multiple layers of MTN’s leadership. Tsholofelo Molefe, Group Chief Financial Officer, will assume oversight of mergers and acquisitions, consolidating capital allocation to ensure disciplined investment decisions. Ebenezer Asante will lead Ghana and Southern & East Africa as Vice President, covering Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, South Sudan, Sudan, Liberia, and joint ventures in Eswatini and Botswana.
In South Africa, Ferdi Moolman, Group Chief Risk Officer and a former MTN Nigeria CEO, has been appointed CEO of MTN South Africa. He succeeds Charles Molapisi, who returns to his role as Group Chief Technology and Information Officer, this time with a mandate to fast-track artificial intelligence adoption across MTN’s operations. To strengthen MTN SA’s leadership, Yolanda Cuba has been named Deputy CEO and Executive Director.
Meanwhile, Mazen Mroué will concentrate fully on digital infrastructure, expanding fibre networks, scaling data centres, and advancing partnerships with low-earth-orbit satellite operators. Selorm Adadevoh, Group Chief Commercial Officer, will expand his responsibilities to include Strategy and Transformation, bringing these critical functions under a unified leadership umbrella. This shift frees up Chika Ekeji, the current Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, to focus on scaling MTN’s emerging platform businesses.
At the board level, Sindisiwe (Sindi) Mabaso-Koyana will succeed Mike Harper as Chairperson of MTN South Africa in early 2026, while Paul Norman, Group Chief Human Resources Officer, will retire at the end of 2026.
For MTN, the sweeping leadership changes are not only about continuity but also about repositioning the company for its next phase of growth. At the centre of this evolution sits Karl Toriola, whose expanded remit across Anglophone and Francophone Africa underscores MTN’s ambition to consolidate leadership in connectivity and financial technology across the continent.
