Akingbade retires from MTN services

By Prince Osuagwu

MTN Nigeria, has announced the retirement of its Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Mr Bola Akingbade. The retirement, MTN says, would take effective June 30, 2012.
Akingbade has had about six years of meritorious service. An experienced Marketing strategist, he joined MTN after a distinguished career with Nigerian Breweries, where he rose to the position of Marketing Director.

MTN Nigeria and indeed the MTN Group have benefited immensely from Akingbade’s wealth of experience and his contributions to the growth and success of the business are well documented.

Under his leadership of the Marketing & Strategy Division, MTN Nigeria made significant strides. Key amongst the achievements of the Division includes playing a significant role in  growing the market share from 45 percent in 2006 to over 50 percent at the end of 2011 and  entrenching MTN’s position as the number one brand in Nigeria,.

Under Akingbade, the Marketing & Strategy Division, contributed to the growth of subscriber numbers from 12.3 million in 2006 to 41.6 million by the end of the 2011 financial year, in spite of steep competition driven by   frequent pricing changes and product innovation in the telecommunications industry. Undeniably, the success of all marketing initiatives during Akingbade’s tenure contributed to enhancing the MTN brand strength and sustaining the company’s leadership position in the Industry.

He is to be replaced by Larry Annetts, an accomplished professional with more than 16 years cognate experience gained in multinational organizations.

In 2004, Annetts served as MTN Nigeria’s General Manager, Products and Services Development in the Marketing & Strategy Division. In this role he designed, implemented and launched the first Mobile Virtual Private Network (VPN) platform in Africa. He also led the team that customised, implemented and launched GPRS and MMS technology for the first time in Nigeria. 

In 2005 as Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer, at MTN Irancell, he set up and developed the Marketing & Strategy Division there, launching the entire suite of products and services including 30 first-to-be-launched products that spearheaded MTN’s regional growth.

He contributed immensely to the accumulation of over 36.2 million customers for MTN Iran in slightly over 5 years of operations in that country, setting the MTN Group record for the highest number of activations per day.

MTN Nigeria clearly intends to maintain its leadership position and capacity to provide innovative products and services earmarked to enrich the lives of its esteemed customers.