Farah Abdulahi, General Manager – Large Enterprises, MTN SA

An ‘MTNer’ through and through, Farah Abdulahi’s dedication to quality, hard work and leadership expertise have firmly established her ability to hold her new senior role as MTN South Africa’s General Manager for Large Enterprise, a role she has strived for.

Abdulahi has lived and worked on three continents for various companies, accumulating over a decade of leadership experience in the telecommunications industry. She is evidence of how desire for success and tenacity begets success. From a very large family of mostly male children, this remarkable woman fled with her parents and siblings to Zambia from war-torn Somalia and is now a wife and mother with two sons.

A seasoned professional committed to driving business growth and operational excellence, she has brought to the role – first in the acting position and now the permanent appointment – extensive background in strategic planning, team leadership, and financial management, which she says has equipped her with the skills needed to lead large enterprise segments to success.

She brings to the role her attributes of a sustained track record of developing and implementing successful business strategies, optimising processes, and achieving ambitious targets. She also adds the ability to adapt to dynamic business environments, coupled with expertise in customer focus and business case development, which enables her to deliver innovative solutions that meet and exceed client expectations. Whether managing diverse teams or navigating complex projects, Abdulahi’s resultsdriven approach consistently translates into tangible success.

Asked how this appointment will impact her team, she says: “My existing team has not changed, but it has expanded — both in South Africa and through collaboration with the MTN Group EBU on multinational corporation accounts — enabling MTN Business South Africa to support enterprises looking to grow across markets in Africa and vice versa. The strategy remains consistent, with a strong focus on continuous collaboration in AI and automation, both of which are local and global imperatives.”

“I love challenges and this position presents the continual challenge to use professional leadership and strategic vision to drive growth and leverage partnerships; it is shaping my role as general manager to ensure best practices across Africa.”

Abdulahi says included in her role is aligning a broader vision and mission, with strategic thinking around agility and applying her own trait of being a very agile person “It’s also essential to have a people-first, people-centric approach,” she says. “My customer is my focus, driving and helping them to balance their growth through innovation and digital transformation. Influencing my teams and enabling a high-performance culture is my philosophy. My legacy has always been shaped around people and a servant-leadership approach.

“However, given the economic headwinds, political influences and socio-demographic challenges, the strategy will factor in the need to create opportunities and empower people to succeed, also reducing any barriers to serving our customers. Growth requires competition and execution, co-creating with our customers to meet their needs.”

Co-creation is a trend Abdulahi is seeing and she believes the future of the enterprise lies in a collaborative ecosystem. She says innovation cannot come into being without people coming together to share their concepts, thinking and knowledge.

“Looking at some of the industry verticals we serve, such as financial services, mining, oil and gas, transport and logistics, our relationships have to be partnership driven.

A significant increase in outsourcing is another trend as organisations strive to do more with less. “MTN is never too big not to go to our customers, wherever they are. MTN’s philosophy is that leaders should be on the ground and that’s where I like to be, on the front and in the trenches, always striving on a personal and team level to achieve above expectations and constantly relaying the company’s philosophy of being number one in everything we do – either on a personal perspective or in the business context.

“This theme led to adjusting the MTN strategy towards the philosophy of being CEO in our spaces, which produces tangible competitive advantage through self-accountability, desire for success and a sense of ownership.”

Abdulahi says her customer is her boss. MTN is well positioned in the market, she adds, a fully evolved technology company. She says what keeps MTN the leader in its market segment is its values and the strength of the solutions it provides through thoroughly vetted partners. These best-of-breed solutions, coupled with best network, have earned having the MTN brand behind them.

She also describes MTN as having strictly disciplined account management, adding that it gives her satisfaction knowing that everyone at MTN is doing exactly what they need to do to keep the organisation ahead of its peers in the industry. She says MTN is a trusted proudly South African brand, with clear goals and intentions that include leveraging MTN assets across its verticals for growth and customer retention. It intends keeping its number one position.

“However, success is measured by impact, not revenue; serving customers impactfully has a ripple effect on the economy, in turn helping citizens become more empowered. By staying true to one’s leadership style and recognising and deploying what works is part and parcel of how we partner with each of our customers. The recent recognition by Brand Finance as SA’s most valuable brand is testament to this.”

Her appointment underlines MTN’s recognition of Abdulahi’s wisdom, hard work, dedication and capabilities. She says the full support she has received from the organisation is extremely gratifying.

“The entire MTN group has always been empowering and like-minded in terms of customer focus, from the CEO down. In this role and with this support, I anticipate an exciting and fulfilling chapter in my working life,” she concludes.

@ MTN Business South Africa | www.mtnbusiness.co.za