MTN Group appointed Rahul De as the new CEO of its Liberia division effective from 1 November, replacing Uche Ofodile who previously moved to the company’s Benin operation.

De is currently MTN Nigeria’s chief marketing and strategy officer. In a statement, the company said he brings 23 years of experience in the telecoms industry, a vast majority of which were in senior roles driving growth and business transformation.

MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita described De as an experienced leader, “renowned for driving innovative digital and fintech advancement in our business and in the telecommunications industry”.

De’s MTN career started in 2011 as CMO of its Ghana unit, before he moved to his current role in 2015 and “spearheaded the team that is driving digital transformation in the country”.

MTN was previously linked to a potential exit from Liberia, where it operates under the brand Lonestar Cell, but more recently the group set intentions to focus on its pan-Africa strategy and sell its business in the Middle East.

Lonestar Cell was the biggest operator in Liberia in Q3, with an estimated 1.6 million mobile connections excluding IoT, data from GSMA Intelligence showed.