Africa’s top 40 Digital Leaders: #9 – Ralph Mupita

By Jaysim Hanspal, Quentin Velluet
Posted on Wednesday, 17 November 2021 14:44, updated on Tuesday, 23 November 2021 09:56

The continent’s top telco is gearing up to get leaner and meaner for its next transformation. Under Zimbabwean CEO Ralph Mupita, South Africa-based MTN Group is betting on mobile money, fintech innovations and building platforms to expand its bottom line. In Nigeria, the group’s biggest market, data revenue is soon set to overpass voice revenue for the first time.

While the Nigerian authorities are stonewalling MTN’s attempts to get a full mobile-money licence – potentially of one of the last great growth markets on the continent – this was not enough to persuade Mupita and his team to bet big on a licence in Ethiopia this year, after they lost out in a first round to Safaricom.

Mupita says he is planning to continue a divestment programme worth about $1.6bn over the next three to five years.

He ranks ninth in our list of Top African Digital Leaders

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