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MTN Nigeria’s Ikenna Ikeme elevated to MTN Group regulatory affairs – Technology Times
MTN Nigeria regulatory affairs chief, Ikenna Ikeme, has been appointed Executive: Group Regulatory Affairs at MTN Group, placing the Nigerian telecoms regulatory specialist at the centre of the group’s regulatory agenda across its African markets.
MTN Group announced today in a statement seen by Technology Times that Ikeme will assume the new role on September 7, 2026, as the telecoms group strengthens its executive leadership to support the execution of its Ambition 2030 strategy.
With more than 30 years of experience spanning telecommunications, banking and insurance, Ikeme brings extensive expertise in regulatory affairs, public policy, compliance, stakeholder engagement and business transformation to the group-level position.
He currently serves as General Manager: Regulatory Affairs at MTN Nigeria and is recognised as one of Nigeria’s leading telecommunications regulatory professionals.
During his career, Ikeme has led and supported a range of landmark industry initiatives, including regulatory approvals for spectrum transactions, national roaming arrangements, 5G licensing, infrastructure sharing and mobile virtual network operator partnerships.
He has also played a key role in shaping regulatory frameworks designed to enable industry growth while safeguarding the interests of consumers and other stakeholders.
Ikenna Ikeme takes group regulatory mandate
In his new role, Ikeme will provide strategic leadership across MTN Group’s regulatory agenda, working closely with the Group Legal and Regulatory Affairs office and teams across MTN’s markets.
His responsibilities will include strengthening regulatory governance, managing regulatory risks, driving policy advocacy, supporting strategic business initiatives, and fostering strong relationships with regulators and key stakeholders.
The appointment comes as MTN operates across an increasingly dynamic and competitive regulatory environment in Africa, where issues including spectrum, infrastructure sharing, market competition, digital services and consumer protection remain critical to telecoms growth.
Ikeme’s experience in Nigeria gives him exposure to several of these regulatory issues, including the approval and implementation of major industry initiatives involving spectrum transactions, 5G, national roaming, infrastructure sharing and mobile virtual network operators.
MTN Group said the appointment would strengthen its regulatory leadership and bring further depth and experience to its efforts to navigate the evolving operational and regulatory landscape across Africa.
From MTN Nigeria to group leadership
Ikeme’s elevation follows his tenure leading regulatory affairs at MTN Nigeria, one of the group’s most important operating companies.
His career spans more than three decades across three sectors, telecommunications, banking and insurance, giving him experience in regulatory environments extending beyond the communications industry.
An accomplished legal and business professional, Ikeme holds an MBA from Enugu State University of Science and Technology.
He is also a qualified Barrister-at-Law, has completed the Advanced Management Programme at MIT Sloan School of Management, and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (Europe).
His new group-level mandate will require him to work across MTN’s operating markets while coordinating with regulators, policymakers and other stakeholders to manage regulatory risks and support the group’s strategic priorities.
MTN appoints Francophone markets operations chief
Alongside Ikeme’s appointment, MTN Group has announced the appointment of Ashutosh Tiwary as Operations Executive: Francophone Markets, effective September 1, 2026.
Tiwary brings more than 27 years of telecommunications leadership experience spanning Africa and India, with a track record in growth, transformation, operational excellence and business turnarounds across diverse and competitive markets.
He has held several executive leadership roles within MTN, starting in South Africa as GM: Prepaid Consumer Business, where he played a crucial role in stabilising and growing the prepaid consumer business.
He was later appointed Acting CEO of MTN Guinea Bissau, where he successfully delivered on the executive mandate of turning around the business and subsequently helped with the portfolio optimisation strategy that led to the eventual sale of the business.
In his most recent assignment as GM: Customer Operations, Tiwary worked with the MTN Group Home Broadband Business team to build and scale customer operations through operational excellence programmes.
In his new role, Tiwary will serve as a strategic and operational lead for MTN’s Francophone markets, supporting strategic priorities, driving operational and commercial excellence, strengthening governance and enabling sustainable growth across Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Congo Brazzaville.
He will also work closely with Opco leadership teams to ensure alignment with Group priorities while supporting high-performance execution across the region.
MTN said Tiwary’s extensive leadership experience, deep understanding of African telecoms markets and proven ability to drive transformation and performance position him to support the continued growth and success of the group’s Francophone operations.
The appointments of Tiwary and Ikeme, according to the telecoms group, strengthen MTN Group’s operations and regulatory leadership as the company continues to execute its Ambition 2030 strategy and navigate an increasingly dynamic and competitive operational and regulatory landscape across Africa.
News
NFF Crisis: ‘The Struggle Is Not Over’ — Jalla Demands Credible Normalisation Committee After Gusau Exit
Prince Harrison Jalla, Chairman of the Advocacy for Nigeria Football Reform Initiative and head of the PFAN Task Force, has called for the immediate constitution of a credible Normalisation Committee following the resignation of Nigeria Football Federation president Ibrahim Musa Gusau and the entire NFF leadership, insisting that the latest development must become the beginning of genuine reform rather than another change of personalities.
Jalla described the resignation of Gusau and the NFF Executive Committee as a victory for Nigerian football but warned that the battle to rebuild the country’s football administration is far from over.
“It is a new dawn for Nigeria football,” Jalla said.
“We have all fought a good fight and kept the faith, but we have not finished the course. The struggle continues until the right thing is done from the word go.”
Gusau announced his resignation on Thursday at a World Press Conference in Abuja, saying he was stepping aside to create room for a “comprehensive and orderly reform process” capable of addressing the longstanding institutional, governance and developmental problems confronting Nigerian football.
The NFF subsequently confirmed the resignation of General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi and members of the Executive Committee, triggering a major leadership vacuum within the federation.
For Jalla, however, the departure of the leadership is only the first step.
He wants the government and football stakeholders to move quickly to establish a Normalisation Committee made up of Nigerians with the competence, credibility and independence required to rebuild the system.
“The NFF Board is gone, Nigeria Football wins,” Jalla said, while calling for a Normalisation Committee comprising credible individuals.
Jalla insists that the composition of the committee will be critical because the reform process cannot simply replace one group with another without addressing the structural weaknesses that have affected Nigerian football.
“With the composition of the Normalisation Committee, all federating units of the NFF, the private sector and other relevant groups must be represented fairly and equally,” he said.
“Nobody can hide under the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to skew things in their own favour or play God in this new dispensation. That era is gone forever.”
The reform advocate also called for the NFF Congress and Executive Committee to be democratically elected under a system that provides equal representation to the recognised federating units.
He wants the private sector to play a greater role in the administration and development of Nigerian football, arguing that a broader stakeholder structure would produce a more balanced and accountable federation.
Jalla’s demands come as the Federal Government moves to implement a wider reform of Nigerian football following the resignation of the NFF leadership.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the National Sports Commission to work with the NFF Secretariat and relevant football stakeholders on a comprehensive reform process covering governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability.
The NFF’s planned September 27 elective congress has also been suspended as the authorities prepare for the next phase of the transition.
The federation has meanwhile appointed former Deputy General Secretary Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme to oversee the NFF Secretariat on an interim basis, ensuring continuity while consultations with FIFA, CAF, government and other stakeholders continue.
Jalla believes that the next few weeks could determine whether Nigeria genuinely breaks away from the old system or simply repeats the same cycle.
He has therefore urged the National Sports Commission, led by Chairman Shehu Dikko and Director-General Bukola Olopade, to ensure that the reform process remains neutral and does not favour any individual or group.
“The National Sports Commission, under Shehu Dikko and Bukola Olopade, must not falter or be seen to favour any individual or group over another,” Jalla said.
“This reform must be total, competence-driven, and nothing more.”
The latest developments have also raised questions over the ongoing investigation into the use of Federal Government intervention funds released to Nigerian football.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has confirmed that its investigation will continue despite the mass resignations at the NFF.
For Jalla, therefore, the resignation of Gusau should not be treated as the conclusion of the crisis.
It is the opportunity to finally address the deeper problems.
After years of campaigning for structural changes to the way Nigerian football is governed, Jalla now wants the authorities to ensure that the opportunity created by the mass resignation is not wasted.
The message from the reform advocate is unmistakable: Gusau and his board may be gone, but the real fight, rebuilding Nigerian football from the foundation, has only just begun.
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