Telecoms & Networks News South Africa

Seasoned IT professtional Simo Mkhize takes up CCO role at Telkom

The Telkom Group has appointed Simo Mkhize as its new chief commercial officer of Telkom Consumer and Small Business.
Simo Mkhize | image supplied
Simo Mkhize | image supplied

Mkhize is a seasoned ICT professional, whose career spans more than 25 years with experience across Africa and Europe, including some of South Africa's major mobile providers. His deep knowledge of the ICT industry makes him a valuable player in the competitive telco environment, key strengths in new business development, strategic planning, channel management and operations management.

“I’m excited about this new challenge at Telkom Consumer and Small Business, particularly to drive growth and improve our customer experience,” says Mkhize. “The group is on a clear path to further cement itself as a strong and influential player in the market, particularly in mobile, fixed, and converged-communication technologies.”

Taking on this new role, he expects the highly competitive market and the current economic climate – characterised by rising inflation, interest rates and inconsistent power availability – to be some of the biggest challenges over the next few months.

“I intend to hit the ground running by focusing on small wins over the next three to six months, to create a coherent commercial value chain,” says Mkhize. “This will set a strong foundation that will enable us to achieve sustainable market share growth in the long term, by delivering significant value for our consumers.”

Mkhize holds a Master of Business Administration from Milpark Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering at WITS.

He has guest lectured executive education students at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) on the Executive Management Programme, which focuses on doing business in Emerging Markets. He also has lectured at the Milpark Business School, as well as served as a member of the Academic Assessment Board.

“I’m thrilled to join the executive leadership team, and I look forward to helping Telkom exceed its goals while continuing to foster a collaborative, high-performance culture,” continues Mkhize.

“This CCO position is critical for the Consumer Small Business Unit to ensure higher revenue and profitability in this highly competitive telecommunications market. We eagerly welcome Simo’s appointment as he brings a wealth of experience into the consumer space and will be an asset to our Exco team. We wish Simo all the best in his challenging role and look forward to his contribution to ensuring that we meet our strategic objectives” concludes Lunga Siyo, CEO of Telkom Consumer.

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