Telecoms veteran Lloyd Mphahlele has been appointed MD of MTN’s fibre business in South Africa as part of a leadership shake-up at the group’s infrastructure business. As part of MTN’s broader succession planning, the group periodically reshuffles its leadership structure. As a company with a December year-end, the group typically announces executive changes to its various business units around this time.
MTN said Mphahlele’s appointment at Bayobab South Africa FibreCo would take effect from January. MTN’s digital infrastructure unit trades commercially under the name “Bayobab”. Mphahlele will “lead the FibreCo business in South Africa, driving strategic execution, ensuring strong returns on investment, and overseeing end-to-end operational performance,” said the JSE-listed group.
The appointment comes at a time when MTN is mulling its place in SA’s fibre market, especially as Vodacom and Remgro’s Maziv fibre merger has now been approved. The group believes building its own fibre network is unviable in SA, even with its ambitions to be a big presence in the market. It has highlighted this position on a number of occasions, leaving only an acquisitive strategy on the table.
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As such, speculation has been rife as to a possible tie-up with Telkom, SA’s largest fibre network operator. Mphahlele’s three-decade-long career has seen him holding senior roles at Telkom SA and Vodacom SA. He has been serving as GM for transport and OSS tools at MTN Group.
He holds a national diploma in electrical engineering, a B-Tech in telecommunications and an MBA from Tshwane University of Technology, together with multiple leadership certifications. In the half-year to end-June, Bayobab secured new contracts amounting to R148.2m, with about 19,000km of fibre rolled out. That brings MTN and Bayobab’s total fibre footprint to more than 127,000km.
MTN also said on Friday that Rami Farah would leave his role as chief technology officer at MTN SA to become chief technology and information officer at Bayobab. Priscilla Adjei Dorsese, a veteran at MTN Ghana, has been appointed GM for risk and compliance at Bayobab. Both Farah and Dorsese will report to MTN digital infrastructure CEO Mazen Mroué.
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