MTN Group today announced that the current group CFO of MTN Group, Ralph Mupita, has been appointed as the new group president and CEO with effect from 1 September 2020. Ralph has served as the MTN Group CFO since April 2017 and has played a critical role in the development and execution of the group’s strategy, capital allocation processes, and financial performance as well as in the resolution of a number of complex regulatory matters.

MTN Group chairman Mr Mcebisi Jonas said Mupita was chosen for the role because he has the ability to fill the group president and CEO position.

“After a rigorous and extensive search process, we are pleased to have appointed someone of Ralph’s calibre, experience and ability to fill the group president and CEO position.

“Ralph’s experience as the group CFO, strong knowledge of our businesses and markets, as well as successful background in financial services, M&A and emerging markets, place him in an excellent position to lead the growth and sustainability of the business going forward,” he said.

Ralph is a graduate of the University of Cape Town with a degree in Engineering and an MBA. Prior to joining MTN Group, Ralph was the CEO of Old Mutual Emerging Markets for five years, a business that provided financial services to individuals and corporates across 19 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia, managing over R1 trillion of customer assets under management at the time.

Commenting on his appointment, Mupita said it has given him the opportunity to drive growth and unlock value for shareholders using the digital space of African continent.

“Leading a business with MTN Group’s history, scale and socio-economic impact is a privilege and honour, and I look forward to working with the group board and executive committee in driving growth and unlocking value for shareholders and broader stakeholders.

“MTN Group is well positioned to take advantage of the digital acceleration shifts and opportunities across our markets, and we are well placed to play an important and leading role in digital and financial inclusion of the African continent, working with our stakeholders and partners,” he said.

The current group president and CEO, Rob Shuter, will step down from his executive responsibilities on 31 August 2020 and will thereafter support Ralph as required until the end of his fixed-term contract early next year.

Shuter’s result statement shows that Mupita is stepping into big shoes. Under Shuter, the MTN Group delivered commercial momentum across its operations and yielded strong financial results.

The telecom giant added over 18 million customers to reach more than 251 million, with an increased data users that jumped from 17 million to over 95 million. In the fintech area of its business, Shuter pioneered a record 7 million to 35 million users’ growth.

MTN has, during his time, introduced many products such as the instant messaging platform Ayoba, which now live in 12 markets with two million monthly active users. And there’s MoMo, the payment platform launched in South Africa and Afghanistan. The product received super-agent license in Nigeria and registered more than 100,000 agents before the end of 2019.

The Group also delivered R14 billion of asset realizations within the first 12 months of its programme, and MTN Nigeria got listed on the Nigeria’s Stock Exchange. Shuter’s leadership addressed many business concerns affecting MTN, including the AGF tax matter in Nigeria, relationship with stakeholders and employee sustainable engagement which made it the best company in 2019.

On the financial growth, the telco’s revenue increased by 9.8% to R141.8 billion, and Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) expanded by 13.6% to R53.4 billion. The holding company leverage ratio improved to 2.2x, and the capex intensity was reduced from 19.3% to 17.5%, indicating greater efficiency in deploying assets.

The strong earnings performance drove the operating cash flow to 18% increase and pushed the ROE from 11.5% in 2018 to 14.3% in 2019 on an IAS17 basis.

The result was attributed to double-digit growth in service revenue by both MTN Nigeria and MTN Ghana, and was driven by improved 4G services.

“On the financial side, we delivered service revenue growth of 9.8% with an acceleration in the second half. Our EBTDA margin improved and reported headline earnings per share grew 62%. Our network rollout brought a further 69 million people into 4G coverage whilst reducing capex intensity. Improved cash flows during the year supported stable balance sheet ratios,” report statement from Shuter said.

With this trajectory, the stakes are so high for Mupita, even as environmental and monetary policies become more challenging in Africa.

Three notes:

• “Target Corp. posted the strongest quarterly growth in its history, including a near tripling of digital sales, as coronavirus concerns fueled demand for services that let shoppers pick up goods in parking lots or skip trips to the store. Like rival Walmart Inc., Target has benefited from being able to stay open throughout the pandemic as well as selling groceries and other household staples. Online comparable sales rose 195% from a year ago, driven by same-day pickup and delivery services”, writes Wall Street Journal.
• Some of the biggest retailers are cashing in as the pandemic fuels a surge in at-home purchases. Target just posted its strongest quarterly growth in its history as its digital sales nearly tripled. Walmart meanwhile recorded its biggest ever climb in online sales, with its U.S. e-commerce sales rising nearly 97%. As customers spend more on their food and homes without entering physical stores, big chains such as Target, Walmart, Home Depot and Amazon are among the biggest beneficiaries, notes The Wall Street Journal (LinkedIn notes).
• Amazon is adding 3,500 corporate jobs and expanding offices in six major cities. The roles will be based in offices in New York, Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, Detroit and Dallas. Amazon has purchased a New York City Fifth Avenue building from WeWork for more than $1 billion, The Wall Street Journal says, citing anonymous sources; it’s set to open as an office in 2023. Amazon’s Workforce Development VP recently said the company “expects much of its staff to one day return back to its offices.” (LinkedIn)

Looking at these three notes, we can conclude one thing: online sales in the developed economies have reached an inflection point. And if nothing changes in the next six months, physical sales are going to make way, permanently. The African economies which could have benefited from this redesign of commerce are hampered by infrastructural challenges which continue to stymie the ability to deepen logistics, necessary to unlock ecommerce and broad online sales. Notwithstanding, online sales is no more the “future”, it has come right now. Prepare your e-store, no matter what you do, because the future of commerce is online.

SpaceX has raised $1.9 billion in new funding to add to the 2020 records of Elon Musk. Interest in SpaceX rockets has surged since the successful trip of the Dragon Crew to space, and the company now has oversubscription of nearly $2 billion.

Bloomberg reported the funding earlier, citing sources familiar with the matter. The new funding put SpaceX valuation at $46 billion.

Fidelity Investments, a brokerage company was reported by Bloomberg as the one of the biggest participants in the latest funding.

The development followed the multi-billion military space contract the company co-won with United Launch Alliance (ULA), early in the month. CNBC reported that the US Air Force awarded the rocket builders ULA and SpaceX contracts to launch national security missions for five years starting in 2022.

SpaceX and Tesla have been winning against other giants in space and automobile business, and Elon Musk is basking on the glory. Musk recently became the fifth richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $86.5 billion, according to Forbes.

However, it’s Tesla that recorded the surge that pushed Musk up the ladder of world billionaires amidst the growth recorded in the space business. Apart from the space shuttle, Musk has been shooting up internet satellites through the Starlink, and that too, has ignited a lot of interest.

CNBC reported that there are over 700,000 people demanding the Starlink satellite broadband service in the US alone. “SpaceX seeks to increase the number of fixed earth stations authorized under this blanket license from 1,000,000 to 5,000,000,” the company said in an application to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). 

SpaceX was awarded the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) contract with Boeing, worth $2.6 billion and $4.2 billion respectively, to build a new spaceflight for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), back in 2010.

But now, as Forbes noted, Musk isn’t the only one in the space business. The world richest man, Jeff Bezos has joined the race for satellite internet network with the recent launch of Amazon’s satellite broadband.

While the satellite internet is heating up between the two entrepreneurs, Musk is stepping ahead with SpaceX’s commercial space trips that are designed to offer transport services at about $50 million per passenger.

Analysts said the progress in the space businesses will instigate investors’ interest in the space economy.

“Led by a string of remarkable feats by SpaceX, we are fielding a pace of incoming investor interest in the space economy on a level that may even exceed the autonomous car frenzy of 2016/2017,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a recent note.

SpaceX is working on a bigger spacecraft, the starship to accommodate more people in the future. The Starship vehicle is expected to accommodate up to 100 passengers.

The company is planning to add it to two other vehicles in its Artemis program billed to commence Moon trips in 2024. And as part of its contract with NASA, SpaceX will continue to deliver astronauts to the ISS, increasing the number of passengers up to four in coming months.

According to Forbes, the global space economy is expected to be worth at least $1.1 trillion in 2040, if the current trend is sustained.