Despite recent struggles, MTN CEO Ralph Mupita is the top-performing telecoms CEO in terms of share price growth among South Africa’s largest telecommunications companies.

Since Mupita took the helm in September 2020, MTN has delivered an annualised return of over 11%.

Over the past twenty years, South Africa’s telecommunications sector has undergone significant transformation.

State-owned Telkom used to be the largest player in the sector but now faces competition from mobile operators like Vodacom, MTN, and Blue Label-owned Cell C. 

This competition has led to lower prices, improved service quality, and a wider range of consumer offerings. 

In addition, private sector investment in infrastructure, like fibre optic networks, has been a catalyst for growth in the sector.

This investment has enhanced connectivity, particularly in urban areas, and laid the groundwork for future technological advancements.

Many CEOs in charge of South Africa’s four largest telecoms have been in the industry or at the forefront of these changes for years.

For example, Mark and Brett Levy, Blue Label’s CEOs, founded the company in 2001 and have been co-chief executives since 2007.

They have overseen the company through several ups and downs over the past 23 years, from a small unlisted seller of prepaid phones to its listing in 2007.

Following its listing, the company’s share price showed strong growth, with its market cap exceeding R19 billion in 2016.

In August 2017, Blue Label signed its biggest deal by acquiring 45% of Cell C in a large recapitalisation and turnaround plan.

However, Cell C became a significant drag on Blue Label, plunging the share price to under R2 per share during the pandemic.

It recovered to over R7 per share by August 2022, but continued concerns around Cell C dragged it down to below R3 by September 2023. Today, the company’s share price sits at around R5.

However, the Levys are confident in their ability to turn the company around and restore it to its former glory.

Cell C also recently launched a relaunch that CEO Jorge Mendes believes will allow the company to reclaim its third spot from Telkom among South Africa’s largest telecoms.

Vodacom’s Shameel Joosub has been at the company’s helm since 2012 and, before that, was mentored by Alan Knott-Craig, Vodacom’s founder.

Joosub has dedicated most of his professional life to the company. He joined Vodacom in March 1994 after completing his articles and quickly moved up to management level.

Since 1998, he has served as managing director in several Vodacom companies before taking over at Vodacom South Africa.

While serving as managing director at Vodacom South Africa, he was appointed as a Vodacom Group Board director.

He headed up Vodafone Spain for two years before returning to South Africa in 2012 to take over as Vodacom CEO.

Under his leadership, Vodacom excelled and brought many firsts to South Africa, including the first commercial LTE network and the first 5G mobile network.

Joosub’s career trajectory could not be more different from MTN CEO Ralph Mupita’s, who has held various positions in various industries throughout his life.

After earning a degree in civil engineering, Mupita worked as a staff civil engineer at Haw & Inglis Civil Engineering in Cape Town for just over three years. 

In January 2001, he joined Old Mutual South Africa, serving in varying roles, as Director of Strategy and as Director of Retail for High Net-worth & Affluent. 

In February 2012, he was appointed as the CEO of Emerging Markets for Old Mutual and served in that capacity until January 2017.

His journey at MTN started in April 2017, when he served as the CFO of MTN for three years. In 2020, Mupita replaced Rob Shuter as MTN CEO.

His tenure as CEO has been marked by a strategic focus on transforming the company and positioning it for long-term growth.

Mupita spearheaded a strategic transformation plan aimed at repositioning MTN as a leading technology and digital services company. 

This involved shifting the company’s focus beyond traditional voice and data services to include fintech, digital payments, and other emerging technologies.

Under Mupita’s leadership, MTN accelerated its digital transformation initiatives. This included investments in digital infrastructure, partnerships with fintech companies, and the launch of innovative digital products and services.

However, it is also under Mupita’s guidance that MTN recently recorded its first loss in eight years, as the telecoms giant has struggled with significant forex impairments from its Nigerian operations.

The most recently appointed CEO of South Africa’s largest telecoms is Telkom’s Serame Taukobong, who was tasked with turning the state-owned company around.

Taukobong has been the CEO of Telkom South Africa since 2022 when the company was facing significant challenges.

His tenure has been marked by a significant restructuring effort to reposition Telkom as a competitive player in the rapidly evolving telecommunications market.

Over the past few years, Telkom has significantly underperformed its industry peers and reported consecutive losses for several years.

Therefore, Taukobong was taken on to implement a comprehensive restructuring plan to address Telkom’s legacy issues, including a bloated workforce, inefficient operations, and declining market share. 

This has involved significant cost-cutting measures, job reductions, and a focus on core competencies.

Despite financial constraints, Taukobong has made investments in Telkom’s infrastructure, particularly in fibre optic networks. 

This was a strategic move to position the company for future growth and to compete more effectively in the broadband market.

While the telecom giant’s turnaround has started to show some signs of recovery, it is still in the early days. Restoring the company to its former glory will take a significant amount of time and effort.

Telecoms by share price performance

Below is an overview of the telecom companies’ share price performance under their current CEOs.

If measuring by annualised returns, MTN’s Ralph Mupita is the clear winner among South Africa’s four largest telecoms. In Mupita’s four-year tenure, MTN has achieved an annualised return of over 11%.

It should be noted that Mupita took the helm after global markets were hammered because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, he started when the share price was on the rise.

In second place is Vodacom’s Shameel Joosub, followed by Telkom and Blue Label, which have experienced negative annualised returns under their current CEOs.

Company	CEO	Start date	Starting share price	Ending Share price	Annualised Return
MTN	Ralph Mupita	2020/09/01	R60.71	R92.99	11.26%
Vodacom	Shameel Joosub	2012/09/03	R108.50	R110.95	0.19%
Blue Label Telecoms	Brett and Mark Levy	2007/02/01 (Listed: 2007/11/16)	R8.69	R5.20	-2.88%
Telkom	Serame Taukobong	2022/01/03	R54.26	R28.12	-21.93%
Share prices were recorded at 14:20 on 29 August 2024.

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This article was first published by Daily Investor and is reproduced with permission