MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola has been appointed Vice President, Francophone Africa for MTN Group, while continuing to serve  as head of the company’s largest and most profitable subsidiary. The dual role takes effect on November 1, 2025.

MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola has been appointed Vice President, Francophone Africa for MTN Group while CEO of MTN Nigeria until the Group announces a succession plan.

Toriola, who has led MTN Nigeria since 2021, is no stranger to Francophone markets, having previously held senior leadership positions in the region since 2010. His expanded mandate is aimed at scaling the successes achieved in Nigeria to Francophone Africa.

“Committed to driving Africa’s digital transformation, MTN Group is refining its operating model and senior management to support accelerated execution and delivery of our evolving strategy beyond 2025. We are focusing our efforts on three principal platforms—Connectivity, Fintech, and Digital Infrastructure—to strengthen our positioning and capture opportunities across the continent,” MTN said in a statement released August 18.

Within these platforms, MTN sees growth opportunities in strengthening its home connectivity offering, simplifying and consolidating its digital products, and accelerating adoption across markets. In Fintech, the group is leveraging its solid foundations to build a scaled, digital-first platform, while in Digital Infrastructure it is expanding capacity to support the exponential rise in digital workloads and embedding artificial intelligence across its operations for value creation. This approach, the company said, will allow it to harness the strengths of its established businesses while rapidly scaling emerging ones.

Under Toriola’s leadership, MTN Nigeria has rebounded strongly, posting a net profit of ₦414.9 billion ($271 million) in the first half of 2025, reversing a ₦519.1 billion ($339 million) loss in the previous year. MTN Group hopes to replicate such resilience and growth in Francophone markets, with Nigeria and the region increasingly seen as interconnected growth engines.

However, Toriola’s appointment is just one of several leadership shifts announced by MTN Group. As part of a broader strategic review to strengthen delivery of its Ambition 2025 roadmap and sharpen its focus beyond 2025, the company unveiled significant changes to its executive committee and leadership structure.

Among these, Ebenezer Asante, currently Senior Vice President of Markets, will now take on the role of Vice President for Ghana, Southern, and East Africa (SEA) operations. In South Africa, Ferdi Moolman, MTN’s current Group Chief Risk Officer and former CEO of MTN Nigeria, has been appointed CEO of MTN South Africa, while Yolanda Cuba will step into the role of Deputy CEO and Executive Director of the South African unit.

MTN’s leadership reshuffle is more than an internal restructuring — it signals a deliberate push to accelerate Africa’s digital transformation. By establishing regional power centers and appointing proven leaders like Karl Toriola to oversee interconnected markets, MTN is enhancing its capacity to expand broadband connectivity, scale mobile money services, and deploy advanced digital infrastructure across the continent.

For MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita, "These leadership changes illustrate the depth of talent and experience we have across the Group. The changes will support the accelerated execution of our strategy beyond 2025 as well as greater value creation for stakeholders over the medium term."

Hikmatu Bilali