The MTN Group has appointed legal expert and former JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange) executive Nicky Newton-King as an independent non-executive director of the MTN Companies, effective 1 January 2023.

In a statement, the operator said Newton-King served as executive at the JSE for 23 years, of which 8 were as the CEO.

According to MTN, at the JSE, Newton-King was responsible for the transformation of the company “to a commercially minded modern securities exchange with a diverse leadership and workforce.”

During her tenure, the JSE also played an influential role amongst its global exchange peers, especially in relation to the then developing area of ESG, the operator added.

The company said: “Nicky has strong abilities to manage the nexus of business, politics, and the regulatory environment and is a highly respected leader with an immaculate reputation both in South Africa and internationally.”

“Nicky has significant exposure to many of MTN’s core markets in Africa and her unique regulatory experience will bring particular insight and value to MTN. Nicky’s passion for sustainability and the role that business can play in achieving a more equitable society has seen her dedicate much of her time to initiatives in this space,” MTN continued.

Newton-King currently serves on the boards of Investec plc and Investec Limited and is the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Stellenbosch University.

MTN Ghana proceeds with NCA compliance

MTN Ghana says it is in the process of complying with an instruction from the National Communications Authority (NCA) to deactivate all services to those customers who had not completed both stages of the subscriber registration process by 30 November 2022, namely linkage of the Ghana card (stage 1) and capture of biometric data (stage 2).

On 29 November ITWeb Africa reported that these customers will be barred from the network as from 1 December 2022.

As at the 30 November 2022 deadline, MTN Ghana had 22.1 million subscribers that had completed stage 1, of which 16.4 million had also completed stage 2 of the subscriber registration process.

MTN Ghana said it is on track to restrict all services to the approximately 5.7 million affected subscribers, who had only completed stage 1 but had not completed stage 2, by the end of 2 December 2022.

According to the company, the affected subscribers represent approximately 3-4% of MTN Ghana service revenue on an annualised basis, and less than a percent of MTN Group service revenue.