Who is Sylvia Wairimu Mulinge, the new MTN Uganda CEO?

Ms Sylvia Wairimu Mulinge was on Thursday appointed the new chief executive officer of MTN Uganda, replacing Mr Wim Vanhelleputte who has been promoted to a regional role as operating executive for the WECA Markets of Liberia, Guinea-Conakry, Guinea-Bissau, and Congo-Brazzaville within the MTN Group.

Ms Mulinge has been the chief consumer business officer Safaricom Plc Kenya.

Chairman of the Board of Directors MTN Uganda, Mr Charles Mbire, said: “I would like to welcome Sylvia Mulinge to MTN Uganda. I believe that her experience will be beneficial to MTN, particularly given her alignment to our strategic intent of leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress. The Board is confident that Ms. Mulinge will continue the work of growing the Company as a leading provider of telecommunications and digital solutions.”

But who is Mulinge?

She was born in Kenya and attended St. Xaviers Primary School (1983-1990) in the town of Nakuru, and Mary Mount Secondary School (1991-1994) for her elementary and secondary education. She studied at the University of Nairobi, graduating in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Food Science and Technology.

She began her career in August 2004, at Unilever, the European consumer products conglomerate, working as the Assistant Regional Brand Manager in the laundry division, based in Durban, South Africa. After nine months in South Africa, she was transferred to Kenya, as the brand manager for Sunlight, a Unilever brand. She worked there for another nine months, from May 2005 until January 2006, based in Nairobi.

In February 2006 she was hired by Safaricom Limited as the manager responsible for the company’s pre-pay product, working in that capacity until November 2007, when she was promoted to the rank of Head of Retail, in which position she served until August 2009.

For the 21 months, from August 2009 until April 2011, she worked as the Head of Safaricom Business, responsible for sales. In May 2011, she was promoted to General Manager for Enterprise Business, working in that capacity for the next four years. In May 2015, she was promoted to the position of Director of Consumer Business at Safaricom. At Safaricom, she rose through the ranks to become a member of the senior management team at the company.

In 2014, Sylvia Wairimu Mulinge was named among the “Top 40 Women under 40 in Kenya 2014” by Business Daily Africa, a daily business newspaper published by the Nation Media Group.

In April 2018, Sylvia Mulinge was named the chief executive officer-designate at Vodacom Tanzania, replacing Ian Ferrao. The position is based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The appointment was effective 1 June 2018.

In September 2018, Vodacom Tanzania enounced that the Tanzanian authorities had declined to issue Sylvia Mulinge with a working permit. The company said at the time that it would seek another individual for the position. Effective 1 October 2018 she was reassigned as the director of special projects at Safaricom, reporting directly to the company CEO.