MTN Nigeria has appointed two new Nigerian executives as part of efforts to make its management team wholly Nigerian.
They are Shoyinka Shodunke, who will be the first Nigerian to be appointed the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the telecom giant, and Adia Sowho, the first female Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), of the network service provider’s 20 years of operations in Nigeria.
Commenting on the development in the company’s unaudited report, for the half-year, ended June 30, 2021, MTN Nigeria CEO, Karl Toriola said, “we further localised our predominantly Nigerian management team with the appointment of Nigerians to two key senior positions (Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Information Officer) previously held by expatriates”.
Shodunke holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Mathematics Statistic/Operations Research from the Federal University of Technology Yola, Nigeria, Masters in Business Administration from the University of Northampton, United Kingdom and a Post Graduate Diploma with a major in Global Management from the University of Salford Manchester, United Kingdom.
As the new CIO of the company, he brings over 20 years of demonstrating business values, implementing critical and pivotal technology initiatives, managing multiple mission-critical projects, vital systems, and key stakeholder relationships.
Shodunke began his career in 1995 with Texaco Overseas Petroleum Company (now Chevron Nigeria) as a Systems Analyst.
He joined the MTN Nigeria family in 2001 putting in seven years across various positions in the nation’s IT space including Senior Applications Manager, where he was recognised for his role in transforming Credit Management and Postpaid Payments using prepaid recharges – Recharge a Contract (R-a-C).
He was the recipient of the CIO’s award for excellence for the design and implementation of the postpaid credit and payment management process that was adjudged best in-class in Nigeria.
In 2008, he moved to MTN Zambia as CIO and he then went on to Uganda in 2011 where he served as General Manager. There he managed the architecture and planning function in MTN South-East Africa IT Shared Services Hub and secured application standardisation, designed and deployed shared services business processes and applications across SEA operations and multiple countries including the first Pre/Post-paid system convergence.
He returned to MTN Nigeria in 2012 as the General Manager IT Service Delivery and went on to become the Acting CIO at a most critical time, during which he successfully managed and stabilised the newly required Sim Registration process as well as being instrumental to the convergence implementation.
In search of a new challenge, Shodunke moved to MTN Cameroun in 2016 where he was first Chief Information Officer and then Chief Information Technology Officer. He left the MTN family in 2020 and rejoins the firm from Vodafone Ghana, where he was Director of Technology.
He returns with extensive leadership experience coupled with knowledge and expertise in strategic business planning, system development, P&L accountability/ fiscal controls, portfolio, vendor and change management, IT/Network Operations, business & technology transformation, Cloud & SaaS Solutions among others expertise.
As the first female CMO for MTN Nigeria, Sowho brings over 20 years of experience spanning the telecoms and consulting industries.
She began her career in 2001 at U.S. Cellular Corporation in America as a Radio Frequency Engineer, before moving to Deloitte Consulting LLP, Chicago, as Management Consultant in 2007.
In 2010, she returned to Nigeria and joined EMTS/Etisalat Nigeria/9Mobile, holding multiple leadership positions as Head Strategy and Business Development, Head Digital Media and then Director, Digital Business until her departure in 2018.
She joined Migo formerly Mines.io, San Francisco, California, U.S.A as Managing Director for the Nigerian Office and then Vice President, Growth between 2018 and 2020.
Sowho joins MTN from Thrive Agric, Nigeria where she served as the Chief Executive Officer. She comes to the MTN family with key knowledge and expertise in commerce, strategic business planning and growth, digital infrastructure and a track record of designing, building and scaling tech-driven platform companies in emerging markets delivering +$100M businesses.
Sowho holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Electrical Engineering with a major in Communications from the University of Sheffield, the United Kingdom, and a Master of Business Administration from Kellogg School of Management with majors in Strategy, Analytical Consulting, Strategic Marketing and Entrepreneurship.
Her achievements include building the pilot operation for MIGO an AI-driven digital credit start-up and delivering a 10X revenue multiple that supported Series A and B fundraises.
