Hendrik Kasteel will remain Chief Executive Officer of MTN Cameroon – for now.

Kasteel was scheduled to leave the company at the end of March 2020, but the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has delayed the process, according to a source within the company who spoke to ITWeb Africa on condition of anonymity.

Cameroon has registered 1,832 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 61 deaths, as of 30 April 2020, according to Africa CDC.

The source at MTN further disclosed that Covid-19 had also delayed confirmation of Kasteel’s replacement and that the company would make an announcement “in due course”.

In January 2020 MTN Cameroon first announced that Kasteel would be leaving the company for family reasons.

At the time, Karl. O. Toriola, MTN Group Vice President for West and Central Africa said: “Hendrik’s hands-on approach will be sorely missed. The company respects the decision he has taken for family reasons. While thanking him for the key role he played in MTN Cameroon’s performance, we wish him every success in his future endeavours.”

In September 2018 Kasteel took over from Saim Yaksan, who served the multinational telco on interim basis for seven months following the resignation of South African-born Philisiwe Sibiya.

Prior to joining MTN Cameroon with his 25-year experience in the telecoms industry, Kasteeel served as CEO of Ooredoo Algeria.

MTN has described Kasteel’s management as being “instrumental in the turnaround of MTN Cameroon.”

Kasteel’s leadership led MTN Cameroon to return to growth in 2019, after a four-year slump. MTN Cameroon managed to garner FCFA 218.7-billion in turnover, a 3.2% increase from the previous year.

At the end of 2019 the telco recorded circa 10.1 million subscribers, representing 49.5% of the market share and a 26.25% increase within its customer base, with nearly 2 million new subscribers. The company also experienced tremendous growth of MTN Mobile Money.