Rob Shuter, MTN’s incoming group president and CEO, will join the telecommunications operator earlier than previously expected.

Shuter, who is serving notice at Vodafone, will join MTN on 13 March 2017, the group said in a statement to shareholders on Monday. MTN had previously said that Shuter might have joined the group as late as 1 July 2017.

“Rob may commence as soon as it is practicably possible in 2017 but not later than 1 July 2017 after the completion of his current contractual obligations,” MTN said in June this year when it announced Shuter’s appointment.

MTN chairman Phuthuma Nhleko has been acting in the CEO role since November 2015 when former CEO Sifiso Dabengwa resigned following the imposition of a record-breaking fine on the group’s Nigerian subsidiary.

Nhleko, who assumed the position of executive chairman on 9 November 2015, will revert to his role as nonexecutive chairman as soon as Shuter assumes his new position.

“With the completion of my two key mandates of settling the Nigerian regulatory fine and appointing a new group president and CEO, I will revert to my role as nonexecutive chairman as soon as Rob assumes his position as group president and CEO on 13 March 2017,” Nhleko said in Monday’s statement.

“In the interim, while I will continue as executive chairman to provide oversight, I will delegate more operational responsibilities to Gunter Engling, acting chief financial officer, and Stephen van Coller, vice-president of mergers & acquisitions and strategy,” he said.

“I will also ensure that all outstanding senior management appointments are completed and the new senior management team is fully settled in before year-end.”

The appointment of a new group chief financial officer to replace Brett Goschen, who resigned earlier this year, as well as a “few other outstanding senior management changes and appointments” will be concluded by year-end, he added. — (c) 2016 NewsCentral Media