The announcement by the MTN Group that Mteto Nyati, CEO of the company's South African operation, will step down at the end of this week affords the executive an opportunity to lead an ICT business over a broader geographic region.

As of 1 July 2017, Nyati will manage JSE listed Allied Electronics Corporation Limited (Altron) under the Altech and Bytes brands in areas including Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Tanzania, Emirates, Kenya, Mozambique, Mauritius, Australia, Hong Kong, India and the UK.

Altron's Bytes UK business has been operating since 1982 while the Altech Netstar operation in Australia is less than two years old.

Mike Leeming, Chairman of the Board at Altron says the appointment of Nyati as CEO followed a rigorous recruitment process.

"The Altron Board embarked on a global search for a suitable candidate with the necessary global leadership experience and business orientation with a solid track record in the ICT sector. Mteto has in-depth blue chip technology experience having been at IBM for twelve years and six years at Microsoft prior to joining MTN in October 2014. He has extensive experience in both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets. We are extremely pleased to have him on board and are confident that he, the board and Robbie (Venter) will work well together during the handover phase."

Nyati has not been at the helm of a company with a footprint as broad as that of Altron, although he took on the role of Group Chief Enterprise Officer at the MTN Group in the nine months leading up to June 2015. He describes his appointment as CEO of Altron as an honour.

"To be appointed to the helm of an organisation that has been in business for 51 years is both an honour and a challenge. It is an honour in that Altron has a strong legacy of leadership and innovation in the markets in which it plays. It is a challenge as the information technology and telecommunications sectors are fast evolving and in order to stay ahead of the curve, organisations like Altron continually have to re-invent themselves in order to stay relevant and competitive in the changing business landscape. I look forward to working with Robbie during the transition period and engaging with the Altron Board and all employees of Altron as we take the Group into the next phase of its growth,"

MTN's VP of SEA region is new CEO

The MTN Group also revealed that current VP of the South and East Africa (SEA) region at MTN Group Godfrey Motsa would take over the role of MTN SA CEO starting next week.

The telco says Motsa has more than 10 years of experience in the mobile telecoms industry having previously held the position of CEO at Vodacom Lesotho, CEO at Vodacom DRC and more recently as Chief Officer Consumer Business Unit at Vodacom SA.

In a statement issued by MTN, incoming Group CEO & President Rob Shuter expressed his delight that Motsa will be assuming the position of CEO at MTN SA adding that the two of them have worked well together in the past.

Phuthuma Nhleko, Executive Chairman of MTN Group has described Motsa's move as part of the conclusion of crucial senior appointments that the telco has undertaken over the past year.

"The appointment of Godfrey hopefully brings to finality seminal management changes that the Group has had to undertake in the last 12 months. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Mteto for his contribution to MTN SA and wish him the best in his future endeavours. "

MTN says the announcement of the new VP of the SEA region will be made in due course. Karl Toriola, the current VP of West, East, Central Africa and Indian Ocean Islands (WECA) region at MTN Group will take on the additional responsibility of VP of the SEA region in the meantime.