Ferdi Moolman Becomes Group Risk Officer as Toriola Named new CEO Nigeria

Pan-Africa telecoms group MTN has appointed Ferdi Moolman as group chief risk officer and he will vacate his current position as MTN Nigeria CEO with effect from 1 March 2021.

Moolman will be replaced by Karl Toriola in Nigeria, who will take over as CEO in MTN’s most lucrative market.

In a statement to the markets, MTN says the management of enterprise-wide risk is integral to MTN’s growth strategy, and Moolman will bring extensive operational and financial experience to the role given his deep knowledge of the company, its markets and the telecoms sector.

“As such, this appointment establishes the role of a chief risk officer as an integral part of the executive committee, on which Ferdi will continue to serve. Ferdi will also remain on the board of MTN Nigeria and will in due course be appointed to other material subsidiary boards given his new group responsibility.”

The 57-year-old Moolman joined MTN in 2002 and has held several senior positions within the group in Nigeria and Iran. He has spent the past five years as CEO of MTN Nigeria and the mobile carrier says during that time, significant progress has been made in stabilising the business and setting it on a sustainable growth path.

Toriola, who will now take over the CEO role in Nigeria, is currently MTN’s vice-president for West and Central Africa (WECA), a position which he has held for the past five years.

MTN says during that period, he has overseen the steady progress of the operating companies in the region, notably the turnaround of MTN Ivory Coast and MTN Cameroon over the past two years.

“In addition, the WECA markets have made significant commercial and strategic strides, including the improvement of market shares within the region and the development of mobile financial services, which is an important driver of the group’s medium- to long-term growth strategy.”

Toriola is an MTN veteran, having held a number of senior operational roles at MTN since joining the group in 2006, including chief technical officer of MTN Nigeria and CEO of MTN Cameroon.

The latest changes at MTN group come only a few weeks after Ralph Mupita assumed the group CEO role, replacing Rob Shuter whose contract with the company comes to an end next year.