MTN Nigeria Hails Ikpoki’s Appointment

......Describes It As Triumph For Company’s Talent Development Programme

*Ikpoki

MTN Nigeria has said that the appointment of Michael Ikpoki as the first Nigerian CEO of the company demonstrates its strength in talent development programme.

An experienced lawyer, seasoned business executive and golf enthusiast, Ikpoki was until his recent appointment, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Ghana. He replaces Brett Goschen, who has since been appointed MTN Group Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director on the Group Board.

According to Akinwale Goodluck, Corporate Services Executive, MTN Nigeria, “Michael Ikpoki’s appointment lends credence to the company’s principle of building local talent and underscores the strength of our leadership development strategy and leadership succession pool.

“This is indeed a strong reflection of the MTN talent management creed; Management’s commitment to it and the quality and abundance of talent in MTN Nigeria, having regard to the status of MTN Nigeria as the biggest operating company within the MTN Group.”

Goodluck revealed that the new CEO started his career in telecoms with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). After six years with the NCC, he joined MTN Nigeria as a Regulatory Advisor in 2001, rising steadily through the ranks and receiving the quality of training, capacity building and exposure that are inherent in the company’s employee value proposition.

Michael Ikpoki became General Manager, Regulatory Affairs in 2004. Two years later, in 2006, he was appointed General Manager, Sales and Distribution and in 2007, the Sales and Distribution Executive for MTN Nigeria.  His appointment as the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana in April 2011 made him the First Nigerian in the MTN Group to attain this height.

He is however, not the only one.  Indeed, only a few months after Ikpoki was appointed CEO of MTN Ghana, another Nigerian, Karl Toriola, was also appointed CEO of MTN Cameroun.   

Several other Nigerians have since gone on to hold strategic positions across various MTN operations.

A seasoned business executive, Ikpoki is well read, with an academic profile that includes General Management Programme at Harvard Business School; Sales, from INSEAD Business School; Finance and Analytics, from Lagos Business School and LLB from Rivers State University of Science and Technology.