MTN Group has appointed Ebenezer Asante (pictured right) the vice-president of the expanded Southern and East Africa and Ghana (SEAGHA) region, effective October 1.

The role became vacant when then VP, Godfrey Motsa, was appointed CEO of MTN South Africa. The new SEAGHA region will comprise the mobile operations in Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, South Sudan, Botswana and Swaziland as well as the MTN ISPs in Kenya, Namibia and Botswana.

"Ebenezer is a great talent and business leader. His appointment to this new role, not only speaks to our strong bench strength, but the pool of talent we have within MTN. Ebenezer will bring great value to the Group leadership team to the benefit of our people and customers across the MTN footprint,” said Rob Shuter, the MTN Group president and CEO.

The inclusion of Ghana within SEA re-balances the workload across MTN Group’s regional structures, further optimising the oversight responsibilities of the regional VPs. Asante is currently the CEO of MTN Ghana, a position he has held since July 2015. In his new role, he will report directly to the Group president and CEO, and joins the Group Executive Committee.

Asante joined MTN in 2008 as a sales and distribution executive at MTN Ghana. He later moved to Rwanda as CEO. After two years in Rwanda, he returned to Ghana in 2015. Before joining MTN, he worked with Unilever for 13 years, where he held various positions, including managing director for its Zambia operations. He holds a BA (Hons) Economics and Statistics degree from the University of Ghana, a postgraduate diploma in management from Henley Management College. Asante was also part of MTN’s Global Advancement Programme in 2010.