MTN chief executive Ralph Mupita has taken on an additional board role after joining the board of Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote’s fertiliser business ahead of its planned stock market listing.
Mupita has been appointed to both the executive leadership of the Dangote Group and the board of Dangote Fertiliser, the conglomerate’s fertiliser and petrochemicals arm.
MTN announced the appointment through posts on LinkedIn and X, while Bloomberg was the first to report the development earlier this week.
The timing is significant as Dangote Fertiliser prepares for a public listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange later this year. Africa’s richest man is positioning the business for its market debut, and Mupita’s experience in capital markets is expected to play a key role in the process.
Mupita previously oversaw the listing of MTN Nigeria in 2019. That operation has since become the group’s largest contributor to earnings, generating about a third of overall profits. In August 2025, MTN Nigeria reached a market capitalisation of 10 trillion naira, becoming only the country’s second listed company to achieve that valuation following a strong recovery in performance and investor confidence.
His appointment is widely seen as strengthening Dangote Fertiliser’s leadership team as it moves towards flotation, while also reinforcing MTN’s and Mupita’s influence within Nigeria’s corporate landscape.
Alongside his new role, Mupita holds several board positions within the MTN Group, including MTN Group, MTN South Africa, MTN Nigeria and MTN Group Fintech.
Beyond MTN, he serves as deputy chair of the GSMA, the global mobile industry body, and sits as a commissioner on the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development.
Before becoming chief executive of Africa’s largest mobile operator, Mupita was MTN Group’s chief financial officer and previously led Old Mutual Emerging Markets as its chief executive.