MTN Nigeria: Akingbade Out, Annetts In

*Bola Akingbade

After six years of obvious meritorious service, MTN Nigeria has announced the retirement of its Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Bola Akingbade effective June 30, 2012.

The retired CMO is to be replaced by Larry Annetts, an accomplished professional with more than 16 years cognate experience gained in multinational organizations.

Described as an experienced marketing strategist, Akingbade joined MTN after a distinguished career with Nigerian Breweries, where he rose to the position of Marketing Director. 

Akingbade’s wealth of experience and his contributions to the growth and success of MTN Nigeria and indeed the MTN Group have been of immense benefit to the GSM giant and are well documented.

It is on record that under his leadership of the Marketing & Strategy Division of MTN Nigeria, the company made significant strides including playing a significant role in growing the market share from 45 percent in 2006 to over 50 percent at the end of 2011 and entrenching MTN’s position as the number one brand in Nigeria.

Under Akingbade, the Marketing & Strategy Division contributed

to the growth of subscriber numbers from 12.3 million in 2006 to 41.6 million by the end of the 2011 financial year, in spite of steep competition driven by frequent pricing changes and product innovation in the telecommunications industry.

Undeniably, the success of all marketing initiatives during Akingbade’s tenure contributed to enhancing the MTN brand strength and sustaining the company’s leadership position in the Industry.

Akingbade’s successor Annetts, served as MTN Nigeria’s General Manager, Products and Services Development in the Marketing & Strategy Division, a period he designed, implemented and launched the first Mobile Virtual Private Network (VPN) platform in Africa. He also led the team that customised, implemented and launched GPRS and MMS technology for the first time in Nigeria. 

As Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer at MTN Irancell, in 2005, he set up and developed the Marketing & Strategy Division there, launching the entire suite of products and services including 30 first-to-be-launched products that spearheaded MTN’s regional growth.

He contributed immensely to the accumulation of over 36.2 million customers for MTN Iran in slightly over 5 years of operations in that country, setting the MTN Group record for the highest number of activations per day.

MTN Nigeria clearly intends to maintain its leadership position and capacity to provide innovative products and services earmarked to enrich the lives of its esteemed customers.