On Sunday 25th March 2018, local TV station NBS featured MTN Uganda’s CEO Wim Vanhelleputte on one of its programs, Face Off. During the length of the program, Wim “faced off” with host Oscar Semweya Musoke on 20 years of MTN in Uganda, it’s legacy, investments, the telecom revolution, data price drops, Mobile Money and the drive to increase financial inclusion, the upcoming license renewal and more.
Wim replaced Brian Gouldie who’s contract ended in June 2016. He’s a Belgian holding a Bachelor’s degree in General Engineering from the State University of Ghent, Belgium, a Master’s degree in Nuclear and Solid State Physics from the same University, and a Special Degree in Power Plant Management from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium.
He took helm of Uganda’s largest company by revenue at the time when their customers had dropped by millions due to a UCC directive to disconnect all unregistered SIM cards. MTN was already the top company when he took tenure as CEO, but he had increased their lead at the top in the competitive telecoms space that is Uganda.
As Mr. Semweya went on his usual inquisitive lane, details about MTN Uganda were revealed by CEO Wim Vanhelleputte during the show. Here are some of the highlights and key points that we took note of.
So what’s with the colour Yellow?
When asked about why MTN chose to use the same colour as that of the reigning NRM government, Mr. Wim Vanhelleputte said MTN came up with yellow in South Africa in 1994 before they ever knew they would be coming to Uganda. So it has nothing to do with politics. MTN is currently operating with yellow in 22 countries. In some of them, yellow is the opposition, others government and an entirely different thing in others.
What positions do Ugandans occupy in MTN Uganda?
Wim revealed that MTN Uganda has 7 Ugandans in leading positions. “There’s no deliberate policy in MTN Uganda that says we don’t want all senior positions to be occupied by locals”, he said. He also noted that they had a Ugandan, Phillip who was CEO in South Sudan for five years and now having a big position in South Africa. Philip invented the MTN Marathon. Also, the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of Conakry is Ugandan.
MTN Uganda is grooming CEO material. Wim said they play game rotation since they are a big company. That’s why you find Ugandans taking up positions in different countries and not here sometimes. Wim revealed that MTN has 13 Ugandans who were groomed by the company and are employed in senior positions outside Uganda. And that there are more Uganda’s who are working their way up the company ranks.
Wait, do you pay Ugandans fairly?
Here, Wim Vanhelleputte revealed the basis MTN Uganda uses to determine pay. In MTN, pay is dependent on the cost of living. Every salary is skill component and cost of living component. “If we were’t paying [them] well, we wouldn’t have the best”, he added.
Is Uganda’s Internet slower or faster than other markets you operate in?
When Mr. Semweya was comparing Kenya and South African MTN Internet speeds, Wim Vanhelleputte said, “I think you’re overrating Nairobi and South African internet. I can challenge you that we have better internet here in Uganda. Our 4G & 3G is fast and it also depends on how you want to use your internet”, he added. This revealed that MTN has not only availed Uganda with affordable data bundles, but also really fast Internet that is “better” than the aforementioned countries.
Steal an engineer strategy?
Wim actually admitted that MTN Uganda stole engineers from other companies when it launched in 1998. But that was then. He revealed that for the last 20 years, they’ve been training and grooming their own engineers. “We have the biggest training group of ICT in UG, it gives us pride that our guys have been able to develop themselves”, Wim said proudly.
The plan for the next decade.
According to Wim, MTN is going to work on revolutionising Data and Mobile Money services further. Currently, MTN’s 3G network covers more than half of Uganda. “Going forward, we are going to have super fast speeds but they are going to be like fixed hot spots”, said Wim.
With this, the MTN Uganda CEO just revealed that MTN is working to roll out other wifi networks in the country. We also found out from the interview that MTN Uganda faces similar challenges with their competitors when it comes to mobile money services. “Everytime we change our Mobile Money charges, our competitors change and follow our lead”, noted Wim. We can’t wait how the revolution of the two services will be. Maybe the data revolution will be better than the new data bundles that MTN Uganda rolled recently. Also MTN has unveiled new MTN Mobile Money rates that will be effective starting April 20th 2018.
MTN Uganda might get listed!
Companies like UMEME, Stanbic Bank got listed here in Uganda. MTN Uganda may be headed that way according to the statements made by the CEO of the company. They are working on getting localised and that might be one way of reaching this goal. So, MTN Uganda might get listed in less than 10 years.
We can now wait for what will come out of MTN Uganda’s public hearing today with a few details and ‘secrets’ about the company and it’s future plans
