Sylvia Mulinge appointed CEO MTN Uganda

Safaricom’s head of consumer business, Sylvia Mulinge, has been appointed by MTN Uganda as its new chief executive starting September 1.

“Sylvia Mulinge becomes MTN Uganda CEO, joining from Safaricom, where she served as Chief Consumer Business Officer for the Group. A seasoned executive, she brings with her a passion for transforming customers’ lives using technology,” South Africa’s MTN Group said.

MTN Uganda is the largest telecom company in Uganda, with 11.2 million subscribers, accounting for 55 percent market share, as of 30 June 2017.

Ms Mulinge joined Safaricom in 2006 and has held various senior roles over the years, which include General Manager enterprise Unit and Director consumer Business Unit, before assuming the role of Chief Customer Officer in 2018.

Vodacom Tanzania in September announced that “the government had denied its incoming chief executive officer, a Kenyan, a work permit, and it would have to restart the recruitment process”.

Egyptian Hisham Hendi, who had served as Vodacom’s acting MD during “the Sylvia Mulinge statement” was in 2019 appointed as the new Managing Director. 

Mulinge’s appointment comes in the background of the recently released World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021, which revealed it will take another 267.6 years to close the gender gap in Economic Participation and Opportunity owing to income disparities and the lack of women in leadership positions. Women represent just 27% of all managerial positions.

“Projections for a select number of countries show that gender gaps in labour force participation are wider since the outbreak of the pandemic. Globally, the economic gender gap may thus be between 1% and 4% wider than reported.”

Currently, women represent just 27% of all managerial positions according to the report.

“Projections for a select number of countries show that gender gaps in labour force participation are wider since the outbreak of the pandemic. Globally, the economic gender gap may thus be between 1% and 4% wider than reported.”

COVID-19 Widens Gender Gap by 36 Years