MTN Group has appointed Charles Molapisi as the new chief executive officer for MTN Zambia with a responsibility to grow the company and entrench its position within the local market.

Molapisi, who served as chief information officer at MTN Nigeria since 2012 and as general manager for IT infrastructure in 2009, takes over from Abdul Ismail who headed up MTN Zambia from 2011 and has now retired.

In Nigeria, Molapisi is said to have led major transformational programmes and positioned the West African operation as a major contributor to the growth of MTN Group.

As CEO of MTN Zambia, he is expected to consolidate the company's position as Zambia's largest mobile operator, improve the quality of service and introduce products and services that will retain and attract more customers to the network.

The country's telecom sector regulator, the Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA), last month warned MTN and other operators of serious sanctions for poor service delivery.

ZICTA said it is also considering blocking operator-driven market promotions because it claims the promotions impact on the quality of service.

MTN management is said to be considering initiatives that will enhance customer experience.

At a recent event in Lusaka, Malopisi said, "we have many thrust as a business in terms of where we want to go and what we want to achieve".

He said the beginning of MTN in Zambia was a humble one because the company did not have financial muscle to take over the industry.

"Now we have grown to be the largest network and now we have the capability, the knowledge and expertise to provide the best services, best solutions to our customers," he said.

MTN moved to Zambia after buying 100% of Telecel Zambia in 2005 and until sometime last year, it was Zambia's second largest telecom operator after Airtel.

Malopisi has not discussed the company's plans going forward in terms of listing on the Lusaka Stock Exchange.