On to the next chapter....

Last week marked the culmination of ~ three years as MTN Nigeria's CMO. I have learned much in this role and am grateful to my team and colleagues for the experience.

I reflect now not only on my time at MTN but also on the unique effect each role has had on my trajectory—from building Etisalat Nigeria, one of the fastest-growing telcos of its time, to pioneering instant lending and offering 10,000 loans per day with Migo, to turning around Thrive from the brink of collapse to being named a Financial Times 20 fastest-growing company in 2024.

Over the last three years, I have been blessed to have led the Consumer Business of Nigeria’s largest listed company (by revenue), where we consistently achieved over 20% YoY growth, reached record growth (50% YoY) in the data business and became the first Nigerian telco to launch 5G.

I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to have served MTN Nigeria, and my gratitude goes to the organization, my fellow ExCo members, and the Board.

Most especially, I thank Karl Toriola, who saw the CMO in me before I did. Thank you for the opportunity, sir.

As an outcome of this reflection, let me highlight the learnings I take forward:

1. Partner to Progress: Partnerships have been at the core of company growth in my professional journey. At MTN Nigeria, we partnered with OTT providers and OEMs to bring our customers into the digital economy with smartphones, creating a balance between improving access to device financing and designing compelling and sticky use cases. While partnerships at the seed/startup stage require speed and flexibility, openness and trust are important additional requirements in larger companies. As the Goliath, it is even more important to demonstrate to potential partners the opportunities for shared value and that, most importantly, their interests are secure.
2. Serve a Customer of One: To cut through a competitive market, the strategic advantage comes from personalized propositions. Marketing to nearly 80 million consumers, we focused on customer behavior, consumption patterns, and preferences, and most importantly, when customers were ready to purchase. This allowed us to give customers the right offer when they actually needed it rather than when we thought they did. We unlocked great value while managing the challenge of pruning outdated products to meet diverse needs.
3. Break Down Silos, Build Agility: Silos naturally emerge as companies mature. To drive agility and innovation, we needed a vibrant culture of collaboration. Increasing transparency across knowledge, skills, resources and results was uncomfortable at first, but with every passing day the discomfort gave way to more trust that allowed us to collaborate within and across teams. This allowed us to start synchronizing sprints across my teams and shorten the time between idea and revenue. It also enabled us to lead the market with innovative propositions for our customers. It was beautiful to watch my team test, launch, analyze data, and iterate in speedy sprints.
4. Strategic Clarity over Tactical Reporting: We shifted our focus to prescriptive analytics over traditional backward-looking analytics, leading to clear real-time priorities for each team member and improving agility. This enables us to proactively optimize strategy and anticipate customer needs. Think….working around network congestion vs. predicting network congestion. We also embraced digital transformation particularly focused on creating data capture into our highest-traffic processes. This provided deeper insights into customer behavior and preferences, allowing us to make informed decisions, tailor our offerings more precisely, and deliver better value to our customers. Both these shifts have moved us from reacting to market changes to predicting, shaping them, and strengthening the company's strategic position.

I was tasked with bringing ‘startup energy’ to MTN Nigeria, and I believe I’ve done just that.?

To my team, I pass the baton to hold up these principles as best you can. You can do it and more; the last three years of smashing our goals are proof enough. I am deeply moved by the growth and resilience in our time together. You have not only allowed me to teach but have also taught me invaluable lessons. It hurts to leave you—I will miss you very much.??

As I wrap up my time at MTN Nigeria, I am filled with a sense of accomplishment and gratitude. The journey has been transformative, marked by significant milestones and invaluable lessons. I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such a dedicated and talented team. ? Together, we achieved remarkable feats and set new standards in the industry. I am excited about the future and look forward to witnessing MTN Nigeria's continued success.

#WeMove