Executive exodus at MTN South Africa
MTN South Africa has lost its CEO, CTO, and Supersonic CEO at the end of December, and the company has now provided more information about these departures.
Last month, MTN surprised the market when it announced that Godfrey Motsa would be stepping down as the CEO of MTN SA at the end of December.
Under Motsa’s leadership, MTN South Africa built a leading network position and improved its competitive standing in consumer postpaid and enterprise businesses.
Motsa’s departure announcement came a week after MTN SA’s chief technology and information officer, Giovanni Chiarelli, announced he would leave the company on 31 December 2021.
Chiarelli was a key player in building an industry-leading mobile network and information technology system for MTN South Africa.
“Some of you may have forgotten, but five years ago, MTN’s network and IT systems were average against our competitors. Giovanni revolutionized all that,” Motsa said.
In December, MTN South Africa also lost Supersonic CEO, Calvin Collett.
Collett was instrumental and founding Supersonic and growing it to become one of the largest fibre Internet service providers in South Africa.
Under Collett’s leadership, Supersonic won the 2019 MyBroadband ISP of the Year award and launched their cutting-edge wireless connectivity solution — Unlimited Air Fibre.
MTN explains
MTN SA’s executive for corporate affairs, Jacqui O’Sullivan, told MyBroadband it is important to note that the three departures were all unrelated and were subject to different timings.
MTN’s financial year runs in line with the calendar year, so it is not uncommon for executives to align departures with year-end, so they can see out the full year of their business plans.
“That said, Giovanni Chiarelli gave notice of his intention to leave in July of 2021. His exit has been orderly,” said O’Sullivan.
She added that Chiarelli has worked with the company to find his replacement, Michele Gamberini, whose appointment was announced today.
Calvin Collett, the outgoing MD of Supersonic, indicated his desire to return to his entrepreneurial roots in October 2021.
Collett remains with MTN until March 2022, allowing again for a structured and orderly handover, while also assisting with some strategic projects prior to his departure.
“During his time with Supersonic, Collett has built and scaled a very strong business that is now ready for further aggressive growth,” said O’Sullivan.
“We place a heavy focus on detailed succession planning at MTN, and we are proud to have been able to move an internal candidate, Megan Nicholas, into this important role. ”
Charles Molapisi’s appointment to the role of MTN SA CEO is another internal appointment in line with the company’s commitment to succession planning and methodical change.
“As noted in our announcement of 15 December 2022, Godfrey Motsa spent almost five years in the role, at a time when the business built a leading network position and improved its competitive position in the consumer postpaid and enterprise businesses,” said O’Sullivan.
“It would be incorrect to infer anything more than regular business movements in these changes, particularly when all three executives have each successfully served MTN for a number of years.”
Godfrey Motsa — MTN SA CEO from March 2018 to December 2021
Giovanni Chiarelli — MTN SA CTIO from November 2016 to December 2021
Calvin Collett — Supersonic CEO from February 2018 to December 2021
Loading ...