Relocating to Uganda, moving from Safaricom in Kenya to MTN Uganda, was a journey of many firsts for the MTN Uganda chief executive officer, Ms Sylvia Mulinge. The first hurdle for this fitness enthusiast was finding a house and then a gym. Once that was done, the rest of the dominos started falling in place.
Ms Mulinge replaced Wim Vanhelleputte, who was promoted to regional executive responsible for operations in Congo-Brazzaville, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry and Liberia.
One cannot help but veer off a bit to celebrate the journey that it has been for Ms Mulinge, who recently marked three years at the company’s helm.
She has been in the commercial space for about 22 years, 16 of which were at Safaricom, five at Unilever, and two at MTN Uganda.
Though a scientist by training, Ms Mulinge was renowned for her sales prowess after her training at Unilever. Since then, she has worked extensively in marketing and sales, and she appreciates the value of relationships in achieving success.s
Therefore, on joining MTN Uganda, the first duty hurdle was interacting with MTN’s customers.
“Being with our customers in their varieties and being with the trade tells you if things are working or not. I also paid keen attention beyond the PowerPoint presentations as we had onboarding conversations with different teams,” she says.
Based on that, they introduced a couple of things, such as a regional structure, and democratised and cut down the silos to allow for building regional leadership teams, which have borne wonderful fruits. “There were also changes in how we went to the trade and dealt with our partners. Coupled with ironing out some perception issues with key stakeholders in government, which led to the summit,” she says.
There have been many more wins for this first female CEO, such as becoming the MTN Mobile Money (MTN MOMO) board chairman and chairing her first annual general meeting.
However, she says, “Building relationships is all that matters. Because of the improved relationship with the government, we got the spectrum, a massive to build our capacity. Relationships with our enterprise customers, regulators, and the wider ecosystem dealing with the MTN group have also improved. That is my biggest milestone.”
Fitting the shoes
If the MTN Group’s CEO, Mr Ralph Mupita, had not emphasised that he needed a woman for MTN Uganda’s CEO, Ms Mulinge may probably not have been here.
“They would have probably found a lot more men to take the position. But because he was deliberate about, “We are not stopping until we get a woman”, they finally got the woman, and I got a chance. So, I guess the challenge for me then is to ask, “How do I create many more opportunities for others?”” she says.
Figures show that when Ms Mulinge took over, the company had about 49 per cent of women in its workforce. It has now broken the 50 per cent mark to 51 per cent, with 38 per cent of these in leadership positions.
“There is still work to do, hence launching the Women at Work, a platform that celebrates women and a network where we encourage each other in this journey,” she says.
Tips to making it
When joining Safaricom from Unilever, Ms Mulinge was very anxious as she was a novice in telecommunications. “I thought I needed to be an engineer, which I was not. However, I put in the work to learn, and within no time, I discovered that selling was the trade, and it did not matter if I was selling airtime or Omo; the crucial point was how I handled the client,” she says.
Moving to MTN Uganda was the right time for Ms Mulinge, who was searching for a new challenge.
“I was looking for a brand that is Pan-African in terms of its outlook because I felt I had outgrown the Kenyan market. MTN offered me that, and it helped that I had always admired MTN from afar. On learning that it was Uganda, there was a bit of comfort that it was not far from home. However, it was still new, and the transition period moved so fast. Within three months, I had sat for an interview, signed a contract and moved,” she says.
Anxiety also reigned with this move, but Ms Mulinge has come to appreciate it as a springboard for delving into learning. “That edge always keeps you working and learning, which gives you an adaptation and growth mindset,” she says.
Some of the things that eased the move were her father’s lessons about hard work and her structured upbringing at Mary Mount Molo Secondary School. This, coupled with helping her mother when her father travelled overseas for work, turned her into a responsible young adult.
Undeterred by rejections
However, this journey could have been smoother. There have been several roadblocks and challenges that would drown even the strongest of people.
In early 2018, she interviewed for and won the position of Chief Executive at Vodacom Tanzania. However, the Tanzanian government denied her a work permit, so she couldn’t assume office. Luckily, the late Bob Collymore welcomed her back to Safaricom.
After her mentor at Safaricom, Bob Collymore passed away in 2019, Ms Mulinge tried to fill his big shoes, but she didn’t succeed.
But it didn’t take long for her star to shine through the dark nights of rejection. An opportunity presented itself at MTN Uganda, and she applied and won.
Leadership traits
Ms Mulinge says she is interested in working with people, and her model is to employ smarter people than her.
“If I let go of people, it’s because we are not aligned in terms of value systems or they are not living up to their potential,” she says, adding: “Therefore, my role as a leader is to create an environment to orchestrate everybody’s gifting and use it to create a collective outcome that lifts the entire organisation. I think if you focus on that, you create people who feel they are part of the organisation and own their KPIs. As you help them shine, you also end up shining,” she says.
However, the downside is that some may think the leader cannot make tough decisions. Ms Mulinge says she employs a balance of both and considers her leadership situational.
Work-life balance
With several balls to keep in the air, Ms Mulinge says she has identified what is important to her, thus putting boundaries around them and integrating them into one another. For example, because she is passionate about fitness and has found no wellness facility at the company, she integrated fitness into their day by introducing the Move with Exco programme. “We found out what each Exco member is passionate about and then asked staff members to pick one member they can do fitness with. The programme has also helped to break down barriers between the leadership team and our staff,” she says.
She talks to her children every evening about the highs and lows of their day and also shares about her work.
“While they may not fully comprehend my role, the more they hear about it, the more they learn, and slowly, we have built a bond. I have also asked them to share with me their important moments and made a promise to be there for each of those events,” she says.
That also transcends to her faith, where she will carry her Bible to work and catch up on reading.
Optimistic about growth
Mulinge is optimistic about MTN Uganda’s growth, citing a bustling population demographic supported by stable macroeconomics.
She believes that the country’s predominantly youthful population allows MTN to grow its long-term market share.
“If these young people choose MTN from a young age, we can grow our market share in the long term. The goal is to ensure they find value in the propositions we are giving, which is why we set up MTN Pulse, a youth network,” Ms Mulinge says.
While there are challenges in many markets regarding exchange rates and inflation, she considers the Ugandan economy much more stable than most of its Eastern African peers.
“Uganda’s inflation is low, and the US dollar is available, and investors do not struggle to get their money out. Oil and gas are also pulling more people to Uganda. If the government gets that right, we could unlock the potential of this economy,” she says, adding: “When you wrap technology around it, the environment gets better,” she says.
In her view, the constant issue to resolve is making MTN relatable and approachable. As a corporate leader, the company has a big responsibility to model the actual opportunity for this youthful demographic.
“If we can wake up one day and say that MTN has become the subconscious choice brand of every Ugandan, I will have done my job,” she says.
MTN’s achievements
MTN Uganda started as a voice company in 1998. It grew to provide data, which helped connect lives. While voice is still a big thing, data has powered apps such as WhatsApp, enabling seamless borderless communication. This has transformed people from relying on internet cafes to doing more from the comfort of their homes. The journey has also involved the advent of mobile money, which has eased the transfer of money and revolutionised the whole financial sector.
Currently, the company is moving into the technology space, evolving from being predominantly a telecom company to a technology company. This has enabled it to build platforms that enable other companies and the entire ecosystem to provide services for businesses.
The achievements also flow to coverage, with MTN in all districts of Uganda, reaching 98 percent of the population. MTN believes that everybody deserves the benefits of a modern, connected world. Therefore, beyond the obligation embedded in the license agreement, MTN Uganda’s drive is to ensure that nobody is left behind.
Consequently, over $300m has been invested into the network infrastructure. This ensures connectivity for everyone, whether for a 2G, 3G, or 4G network. Extending quality and wholesome growth was also the drive behind the recent 5G launch.