Q&A with the group president and CEO

Creating
brighter lives

Rob Shuter, group president and CEO

Rob Shuter

  • You've been at the helm since March 2017, what was your mandate?
  • The mandate from the board was firstly to stabilise the executive team and secondly to do a strategic review. This included establishing what the next phase of MTN is to be: what the opportunities are and the best way to take advantage of them, as well as the resources and skills we need to do that. That's spelt out in our BRIGHT strategy (see page 6). There was also a requirement to set a comprehensive financial plan for the group: determining the returns MTN can generate, the investment required, and the ideal capital structure. Ultimately, this determines the appropriate dividend policy (see the Q & A with the CFO). The mandate also included a portfolio review: not just of the markets in which MTN operates, but also of the group's investments.
  • What did you conclude from the portfolio review?
  • Firstly that our geographic regions, Africa and Middle East, are among the fastest growing across the world. Secondly, within that we are represented in most of the large economies in that region and thirdly, we have strong positions in all our markets (either #1 or #2 positions). So generally, we are in good shape and the main thrust is to further improve the operational performance in these markets.

    Having said that, we also need to continually monitor the regulatory, macro-economic and competitive environments in the markets and make sure that investments or further funding commitments meet our investment and return criteria. We operate in a number of markets that are in a state of conflict and there our approach has been to ensure that these markets are self-funding.

    We also have investments in tower companies and our e-commerce joint ventures. Our most significant investment is a 29% stake in IHS Group, which owns 23 300 towers across Africa. Over time we want to partially monetise this shareholding, which we hold as an 'asset available for sale'.

    Through what we call the functional steering from the group, we aim to drive the best possible performance out of the opcos. Getting this right would mean that MTN would be well positioned to expand the portfolio should the right opportunities present themselves in the future.

  • What do the leadership changes at group level mean for MTN?
  • There are many things that differentiate MTN (see our investment case on page 100), but I believe the biggest differentiator for performance in the long term is a unique corporate culture. We are building a culture of openness, professionalism and excellence, where people work in a more organic way. While many of the opcos have already been operating like this, it is fair to say that the head office has been more traditionally oriented and in certain areas has been underresourced. It has tended to focus on the medium and small opcos, while the biggest prize is in the big businesses.

    Now, with a thin layer of highly skilled resources at the centre, many of the large opcos are leaning into the group to tap into this. We are fundamental believers in a decentralised model, with high-level functional steering from the centre. Properly executed, it is a real differentiator. We made a lot of progress on this in 2017, and the latest global culture audit bears this out (see page 80).
  • Tell us about MTN's regulatory environment. What measures have you put in place to address regulatory compliance across your markets?
  • This is a very complex area with 22 markets, each with very different regulators, regulations and agendas. Our international investors are probably used to a more harmonised regulatory environment, such as that across the EU. While part of the complexity stems from the fact that we are in so many different countries; some is because economies are under pressure; and another part comes from the overlap between telecoms, media and financial services in a converging world.

    In 2017 we materially enhanced the management structure (both at the centre as well as at operations) to support regulatory compliance. Our engagements with regulators, government authorities and international bodies became more targeted. We elevated the regulatory function to the group executive committee level and introduced more internal controls.

    Given the complexity of the regulatory space, this is an area on which we work continuously.
  • What does the year ahead hold for MTN?
  • Alongside our many stakeholders, we continue our work to build a resilient and sustainable MTN. This means a group that behaves in a socially responsible way and provides the best customer experience, improved returns and enhanced commercial performance. It means a group that rolls out access to the internet and to financial services to a broader population, has engaged employees, an impeccable reputation for legal compliance and good governance, as well as one that provides excellent networks and infrastructure. To achieve this, we will continue to implement and deliver on the BRIGHT strategy, communicating progress against our KPIs (see page 6).