Ferdi Moolman, the chief executive officer of MTN Nigeria has been named ‘Top CEO’ at the sixth edition of Businessday’s annual ‘Top CEOs and Next Bulls’ awards.
This year’s event, organised in partnership with the Nigerian Stock Exchange featured over 15 recipients in the category.
Moolman, who has been the CEO of MTN Nigeria since 2015, was recognised for the company’s performance in the 2020 financial year.
He is the only CEO of a telecommunication company to be recognised. While at the helm, subscriber numbers for MTN Nigeria grew by 10.5 per cent in 2019 alone to reach 64.3m subscribers; with revenues climbing by over 12 per cent.
The company has committed over N22bn to support causes in the areas of youth empowerment, education, healthcare and community development projects through the MTN Foundation while partnering the Bank of Industry, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and other organisations to empower small and medium scale enterprises.
Receiving the award, Moolman said, “It is a dream come true to not only have been listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange last year but to also witness how the market responded to this. This award is not for me, but for the entire MTN family. We thank you for this recognition and commit to continue leveraging on the strength of partnerships to deliver exceptional services.”
Businessday Publisher, Frank Aigbogun, said the award bestowed on Moolman and MTN Nigeria, was a testament to the resilience of their business and the stable structures put in place to keep the company running despite prevailing circumstances.
He also commended the company’s efforts in supporting vulnerable Nigerians impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Oscar Onyeama, who delivered a keynote address said Nigerian businesses had gone from surviving a crisis to thriving in the ‘new normal.’
“Our market has remained active with listing activities worth over N1.26tn since March 24, 2020, as well as strong trading activities in the equities market with year-to-date losses moderating to -5 per cent from -26 per cent in March 2020,” said Onyema.
Some of the other winners in the category include Khaled Dokani, CEO of Lafarge Africa; Roger Thompson, CEO of Seplat Petroleum; Oyeyemika Adebayo, CEO of Cadbury Nigeria Plc and Abubakar Suleiman, CEO, Sterling Bank Plc among others.
