In recognition of his tenacious leadership and drive for innovation, Karl Toriola, the CEO of MTN Nigeria, has received the 2023 SABRE Africa Certificate of Excellence as CEO of the Year. 

Since becoming CEO of the leading technology giant in October 2020, Karl Toriola has spearheaded the organisation’s transition from solely providing telecommunications services to a wide range of technology solutions.

During his time in office, MTN Nigeria became the first company in Nigeria to receive the licensing to roll out 5G spectrum commercially. MTN Nigeria was also granted a Payment Service Bank licence to provide financial solutions to Nigerians through MoMo PSB,  the fintech subsidiary of MTN Nigeria.

Another milestone for MTN Nigeria during his time as the CEO was the successful closure of the Public Offer. In December 2021, MTN Nigeria became the first Nigerian company to make its public offer of 575 million sales in shares to retail investors through a premiere digital platform during the Primary Offer.

With Karl Toriola as CEO of MTN Nigeria, its revenue doubled from N1 trillion in 2018 to N2 trillion at the end of the financial year in 2022  as the organisation also under his wing achieved its most substantial growth in 2021 and 2022 at 22.9 percent, and 21.6 percent respectively. 

When asked to speak about his greatest accomplishments as CEO of MTN Nigeria in a recent exclusive interview, he said, “First of all, it’s a team accomplishment. So, it’s not down to me but the entire team – from the board, right down to everyone working in the organisation. But I think getting MTN Nigeria back to a place where it’s being liked and loved gradually is probably my biggest achievement. It’s a long journey.

Everyone loves to hate two service providers, the telco and the bank, and to get them (customers) to start to like and love you and give you some respect; I think it’s a tremendous achievement,” he continued. 

Before his appointment as the CEO of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola worked at Ericsson Nigeria in 2000 as a Support and Integration Manager. He moved to Econet Nigeria in 2003 as Deputy Chief Technical Officer before becoming Chief Operations Officer at then Vmobile Nigeria (now Airtel). In 2006 Karl Toriola joined MTN Nigeria as Chief Technical Officer. He was appointed CEO of MTN Congo Brazzaville in 2011 and MTN Cameroon in the same year. He became Vice President of MTN Group’s WECA (West and Central Africa) for five years until he was announced CEO of MTN Nigeria in October 2020.

In addition to CEO of the year, MTN Nigeria also received a Certificate of Excellence at the 2023 SABRE Africa awards in four other categories: Company of the Year as MTN Nigeria, Corporate Image for the launch of MTN 5G, Corporate Social Responsibility for Empowering Female Entrepreneurs through MTN Y’ellopreneur and Special Event/Sponsorship through MTN Football. 

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said it would continue to consult stakeholders on issues affecting telecommunication services deployments and developments, in line with its culture of inclusiveness, collaboration and partnership as predicated in its strategic focus.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission (EVC), Professor Garba Danbatta, represented by Reuben Muoka, Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, gave the assurance while receiving a delegation of Food Basket Foundation International (FBFI), led by its Chief Executive Officer, Funmi Akinyele, during a courtesy visit to NCC Headquarters in Abuja, affirming that the Commission is committed to strengthening its regulation of the telecommunication sector, particularly providing the solid infrastructure and general industry regulations.

While commending the Commission’s regulatory excellence, highlighting its effort in ensuring there are regulations, frameworks and guidelines to guard the telecoms sector and online civic space, Akinyele expressed concerns about the state of the social media with uncontrolled content. She said the visit to the regulator was to explore areas of collaboration in its programme to protect the digital civic space by combating misinformation and disinformation while mitigating risks to the digital civic space to ensure electoral integrity before, during and after the 2023 General Elections. 

This initiative, she explained, comes under one of FBFI’s projects, dubbed, Safeguarding Digital Civic Space for Electoral Integrity (SDSEI).

Speaking further, Muoka informed the team that the Commission is not responsible for the content of the social media as there are other government agencies that are responsible for that.

However, the Commission has engaged in several aspects of protection of the users of the Internet, such as initiatives towards Child Online Protection, COP, deployment of the Computer Security Incident Response Team, NCC-CSIRT, set up to monitor cyber-attacks in the Nigerian cyberspace, in addition to the activities of the Commission’s department of New Media and Information Security set up to address issued of cybersecurity.

“We have tried not to be a closed organization. We give lots of premiums to consultations and collaborations, especially in the areas that will ensure that the consumers and stakeholders understand what is going on and to make input that enriches the quality of regulations, as well as being able to access information they may require to safeguard themselves and the society,” he noted. 

Muoka also invited the group to join the NCC in carrying out enlightenment campaigns to educate telecom consumers on their roles and responsibilities in order to use the Internet and telecommunication platform safely to counter misuse and abuse. 

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has concluded arrangements to host an event to mark the 2023 World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) in Abuja with spotlight on its regulatory initiatives on clean energy usage in the telecoms sector.

  The theme of the 2023 edition of the Day is “Empowering Consumers through Clean Energy Transitions.” According to NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Barrister Adeleke Adewolu, the theme provides opportunity for NCC to share with beloved telecom consumers and other stakeholders, as well as the public, the policies it has instituted, and other actions taken to encourage operators in the sector to transition to environmentally friendly and renewable energy sources in their operations.

 Adewolu, who represented the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, at the inauguration of the committee to organisation the event, said the Commission is committed to reducing the impact that telecommunications operation has on climate change and the environment while noting that the peculiarities of Nigeria’s electricity supply have resulted in the telecommunications sector being a contributor to carbon emissions.

Danbatta, who is a Fellow of the Renewable Alternative Energy Society (FRAES), stated that studies have shown that renewables and energy efficiency, boosted by substantial electrification, can provide over 90 per cent of the necessary reductions in energy-related carbon emissions. He said increasing the use of electricity sourced from renewables presents the best opportunity to accelerate world’s energy transformation.