The news:
- MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola will now oversee MTN’s Francophone Africa operations starting November 1, 2025.
- The expanded role supports MTN’s ambition to grow its market share in Senegal, Cameroon, and Côte d’Ivoire.
- Toriola’s career spans over two decades across MTN markets, including Congo Brazzaville and Cameroon.
- MTN has also reshuffled leadership across South Africa, finance, and M&A to support the post-2025 strategy.
MTN Group has announced that Karl Toriola, the current CEO of MTN Nigeria, will take on additional responsibilities as Vice President of Francophone Africa, effective November 1, 2025.
Under his new mandate, Toriola will oversee MTN’s operations in Cameroon, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and other French-speaking African markets. According to MTN, the move is designed to “support accelerated execution of our strategy and value creation over the medium term.”
Toriola has been a fixture within MTN Group for nearly two decades, bringing deep operational knowledge and regional experience. After starting his telecom career at Ericsson Nigeria in 2000, he moved to Econet Nigeria in 2003, later becoming Chief Operations Officer at Vmobile Nigeria.
He joined MTN Nigeria in 2006 as Chief Technical Officer and was appointed CEO of MTN Congo Brazzaville and later MTN Cameroon in 2011. He then served as Vice President for MTN’s West and Central Africa (WECA) region before being named CEO of MTN Nigeria in 2020.
The appointment reflects MTN Group’s confidence in Nigerian leadership and its growing influence within the pan-African telecom giant. While Toriola retains his current role as CEO of MTN Nigeria, the dual mandate aligns with the group’s strategy to unify leadership across high-growth markets.
The leadership reshuffle also extends to other parts of MTN. Charles Molapisi will step down as CEO of MTN South Africa and return to his former role as Group Chief Technology and Information Officer. He will focus on fast-tracking AI adoption across MTN operations.
Replacing him is Ferdi Moolman, who led MTN Nigeria from 2016 to 2021 and has remained active on the Nigerian board. Moolman will now resign from that board to fully focus on South Africa.
Other key changes include the expansion of Group CFO Tsholofelo Molefe’s portfolio to cover mergers and acquisitions. Current Chief M&A and Business Development Officer Kholekile Ndamase will step down from the group executive committee and now report to Molefe.
Additionally, Senior Vice President Ebenezer Asante will assume wider responsibilities across Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, and other African markets.
These shifts precede MTN’s upcoming interim results announcement, which is expected to reflect strong earnings growth for the first half of the year.
