GUINEA-BISSAU – MTN Group, the South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, has announced the appointment of Eliane Houphouet-Boigny as the CEO of MTN Guinea-Bissau, effective 1 July 2021.
“I would like to welcome Eliane to the MTN family and look forward to her taking MTN Guinea-Bissau to new heights, as we work to lead digital solutions for Africa’s progress,” said MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita.
Eliane is a seasoned professional with a career spanning more than 20 years, and experience across multiple markets in Europe and Africa. Most recently, she held several leadership roles at Nestlé, including Head of Innovation, Head of Business Transformation and Head of Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement.
The latest woman to take the helm at an MTN operation, Eliane holds two Master’s degrees, one in Chemical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Switzerland) and another in Strategic Management from HEC School of Management in Paris.
She takes over the reins from Freddie Mokoena, who has been CEO of MTN Guinea-Bissau since September 2013.
“I would like to welcome Eliane to the MTN family and look forward to her taking MTN Guinea-Bissau to new heights, as we work to lead digital solutions for Africa’s progress.”
Ralph Mupita – Group President and CEO, MTN
“I’d like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to Freddie. He has done an amazing job in leading the team over the past 8 years. Freddie steered the team through a period of amazing growth, and I am deeply thankful for his invaluable guidance and contribution to MTN,” said Mupita.
MTN has been present in Guinea-Bissau since 2005 and has around 900 000 subscribers.
Meanwhile, MTN Group is leveraging its expansive footprint across Africa to test and ultimately deploy OpenRAN – an innovative technology that will enable it to launch new services more quickly, cost-effectively and seamlessly, supporting future strategies in line with the company’s Ambition 2025: Leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress.
MTN plans to modernise its radio access networks using OpenRAN. This is in line with one of five vital enablers of MTN’s strategy: to build technology platforms that the company believes are second to none, thereby allowing for the rapid expansion of 4G and 5G population coverage across its markets.
With up-to-date technology, MTN expects a reduction in its power consumption and associated carbon emissions. This, in turn, supports its plans to decarbonise its network and achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, MTN’s Project Zero.
