Former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas will replace Phuthuma Nhleko as chairman of MTN Group at the end of the year, while former President Thabo Mbeki will head a new advisory board.
Jonas will assume the role on 15 December 2019, after serving an interim period as chairman-designate. Nhleko had been expected to step down at MTN’s annual general meeting on 23 May, but his tenure will be extended by six months, MTN said.
Jonas, who was already a non-executive director of MTN, was deputy finance minister for almost three years before being removed by former President Jacob Zuma in 2017. He has since been made an investment envoy for Cyril Ramaphosa, who replaced Zuma in February last year and is seeking to attract more international funds to the country.
“Jonas is the right man to replace a figure such as Nhleko after so many years,” said Ron Klipin, an analyst at Cratos Wealth. He has “expertise and will be the man to negotiate and strategise”.
Jonas is also known for reporting that a member of the Gupta family offered him R600-million to take the top finance ministry job and threatened to kill him if he spoke of it. The Guptas are at the heart of an ongoing probe into the plundering of state funds by outside interests under Zuma’s leadership, and deny wrongdoing.
At the same time, MTN said it is establishing an international advisory board comprising “prominent persons of considerable and wide-ranging experience”.
‘Guide and support’
The purpose of this board will be to “guide and support MTN Group from time to time in fulfilling its vision and objective of being one of the premier African corporations with a global footprint in telecommunications, contributing to increased digital inclusion in Africa and the Middle East, a pivotal aspect of the fourth Industrial Revolution”.
The advisory board will be non-statutory in nature and will not have any fiduciary responsibility, but will make an “important contribution and play a highly valued role in ensuring that the board is guided and assisted in achieving the company’s vision in a technically complex world with uncertain and shifting geopolitical interests”.
The advisory board will be chaired by former President Mbeki. Other members will include former Ghanaian President John Kufuor; former African Union commissioner for political affairs Aisha Abdullahi; former International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Mohammed ElBaradei; Total president of marketing and services Momar Nguer; and Nhleko. — © 2019 NewsCentral Media, with additional reporting (c) 2019 Bloomberg LP
