In September 2024, Chineze Gbenga-Oluwatoye marked 20 years of working at MTN Nigeria. This makes the General Manager for Corporate Affairs one of the longest-serving MTNers at the OpCo that started operating in August 2001.

What is it that has kept this vivacious woman at MTN?

“It’s the energy! The impact! It really feels great to know that you are connecting and contributing to something big!” she enthuses. “MTNers are passionate about the brand. And here, everyone can speak up and have their voices heard.”

Chineze remembers the days before Nigeria had a mobile network: “I grew up in a home without a phone. When my friends complained that their fathers locked the old landline phone, I was jealous. I wanted to say I had a phone at home, even if it was locked!”

In her two decades with MTN Nigeria, Chineze has witnessed many milestones.

“What was huge was when we got to our first 1 million subscribers in 2003. Today, we have about 77 million. Another highlight was in 2006 when we commissioned a 3 165km fibre optics network – Africa’s longest private superhighway.  

Among other milestones were the arrival of Blackberry – “you could read email on your phone!”; the progression from 2G, to 3G to 4G and now 5G; the audacious advertising campaigns; and in particular, the thrilling and forever memorable television commercial we ran following the launch of mobile number portability.

“I remember the iconic marketing campaigns through the years – before I joined MTN, one of my favourites was the ‘yellow man’ who travelled through Nigeria painting billboards yellow to indicate the connection to the MTN network. In one ad, the man accidentally spills yellow paint into a river and it spreads fast, turning the whole river yellow!”

MTN Nigeria’s Senior Manager, External Relations, Funso Aina – an MTNer with 15 years’ service – concurs, saying that MTN’s marketing took everyone by storm. “A popular expression at the time was ‘paint everywhere yellow’,” he says, adding that marketing drove adoption and that the campaigns, with their special brand of local music, were about winning the hearts and minds of Nigerians.

In the early days, CEO, Adrian Wood, did his best to create awareness of the new bright yellow brand. “The CEO wore a yellow tie and yellow glasses. He even once rode a yellow Harley Davidson!” says Chineze.

In 2012, MTN Nigeria’s Ultimate Wonder Promo included an aeroplane as a prize. The student who won the Cessna 182T chose to take the equivalent value in cash – N64m at the time.

As the business grew, the number of Nigerians employed at MTN grew, with deliberate development of local talent and other efforts guided by our commitment to the local content policy. All these efforts including the listing of MTN Nigeria on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2019 reinforced that “the brand was very much our own, proudly Nigerian with an unwavering belief in and commitment to Nigeria’s progress”, she adds.

Now more than 99% of the staff of around 1,900 are Nigerians, in line with the diversity and inclusion policy, among other strides in this area, there has been a steadily increasing ratio of female to male employees. The goal is to achieve a 50:50 ratio by 2030.

Over the years, Chineze and Funso also witnessed some lows.

A particular nadir was the 2015 fine by the regulator for not disconnecting timeously those SIM cards that had not been properly registered.  However, the highs have made up for the lows and both Chineze and Funso feel optimistic about the future, buoyed by the company’s resilience and disciplined execution.

“MTN has achieved so much,” says Funso. “We’ve moved from feature-phones to 5G. There has been a digital revolution. Financial inclusion is a big drive, and we are still only scratching the surface. As we transition from telco to techno, we will be sustained by the roots of our Ambition 2025 strategy.

“We will continue to re-invent ourselves, working with partners to stay relevant. We will continue to help people work better, play better, live better. The possibilities are limitless!” he adds.

Partnership is a central theme, from working alongside the community to developing suppliers.

“There are real stories of real impact through partnerships,” says Funso. “Suppliers have grown with us. One started out with only one diesel tanker, but now he owns a whole fleet.”

Innovation is another theme, with one supplier soon to launch MTN’s first bio-degradable SIM cards, proudly made in Nigeria. Funso also sees growth in adjacent verticals, saying that through the MTN platform people in the music and film industries can market themselves and generate revenue. “We all rely on ICT, and the cloud doesn’t need to be offshore. It’s right here in Nigeria!”