MTN South Africa CEO Farroukh quits

MobileTelephone Network (MTN) yesterday announced that the chief executive officer of its South African operations, Ahmad Farroukh, who also held the same position in Nigeria in 2006 until he was replaced, has resigned. His resignation came amid strikes and declining sales in the company’s second-biggest market.

According to MTN Group president and chief executive officer Sifiso Dabengwa, “This was a difficult decision to take for Ahmad, but unavoidable due to personal and family reasons. His resignation is effective as of July 31 2015.”

Farroukh’s resignation comes amid MTN grappling with a week-long strike led by the Communication Workers Union (CWU).

MTN South Africa has been battling labour union-led strikes over pay and bonuses in its home market, where sales have declined due to competition and price cuts imposed by regulators.

South Africa is the company’s second-biggest unit in terms of subscriber numbers, after Nigeria.

Mr. Farroukh served as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd., a unit of MTN Group Ltd. since July 19, 2006.

When contacted on phone, the Corporate Services Executive at MTN Nigeria, Akinwale Goodluck, declined to comment.

“Please call me tomorrow.

I cannot talk with you now, I am not in Nigeria as at now,” he quipped.

Farroukh’s exit from MTN, which is Africa’s biggest mobile network, also signals how the telecommunications company is struggling to cement a CEO for its South African operations.

It was only in August 2014 that Farroukh replaced former MTN SA CEO Zunaid Bulbulia. At the time, MTN said the hiring of Farroukh as its South African unit’s CEO was in line with a management rotation policy at the company.

Farroukh joined MTN in 2006. He was also the former chief executive officer of MTN’s biggest African operation in Nigeria and headed up the company’s Ghana operations.