MTN’s finance head steps down
THE chief financial officer (CFO) of MTN Group is to step down in September after more than a decade at Africa’s biggest telecoms operator, the company said yesterday.
Brett Goschen, who has held the position since 2013, leaves the company in the middle of a hunt for new revenue streams that include convincing its more than 200 million users to use their handsets for everything from storing money to paying bills.
MTN also named former Barclays Africa investment banking chief Stephen van Coller as head of mergers, acquisitions and strategy.
Van Coller’s appointment follows that of another banking veteran, Rob Shuter, as chief executive officer last month.
Van Coller will take up his role in October, while Shuter is expected to start by no later than July next year.
MTN has struggled to make money at a faster pace as years of price wars and regulation aimed at bringing tariffs down hit profitability and made it less attractive to spend on new networks.
Investors are hoping Shuter and Van Coller will use their banking experience to shake off MTN’s reputation as a stock with a limited potential for growth and expect a move into financial services.
The move will pit MTN against African rival Safaricom, whose mobile money business M-Pesa helped offset falling prices for basic telecoms and convinced some executives and investors that financial services is the industry’s next growth area.
MTN Rwanda chief executive Gunter Engling will assume the position of acting group CFO on Brett’s departure until a permanent CFO is appointed, MTN said in a statement.