Telecommunications giant MTN South Africa has appointed Bradley Swanepoel as chief risk officer, effective October 1, 2023, to enhance the role of risk as a strategic lever within the business.

Amid a continuously changing technical, regulatory and competitive environment, MTN aims to ensure effective risk management, taking active measures to identify and address various business risks.

“South African businesses today, including MTN, face many challenges that pose a range of risks to all aspects of their operations. I look forward, with my team, to playing a part in ensuring that MTN can identify and avoid these operational risks so that it continues to fulfil its role as a leading provider of value-added services to South Africans,” said Swanepoel, who is currently MTN finance business partner GM.

MTN South Africa CEO Charles Molapisi pointed out that Swanepoel has organisation-wide experience, having served within MTN’s enterprise, consumer, fintech and technology businesses, and has a comprehensive understanding of MTN's operations that aligns perfectly with the requirements of a chief risk officer.

“Bradley is a seasoned CA (SA) and finance executive with more than 20 years of experience in senior leadership roles. With many of those years spent in telecoms including his current tenure at MTN, Bradley offers a depth and breadth of understanding of the business and brings a strategic lens to risk management,” he elaborated.

Further, Swanepoel’s skills accumulated over the years include corporate strategy, financial reporting, risk and compliance and corporate governance at organisations like Smile Communications, BCX and Telkom Yellow Pages and Samsung Electronics.

He has a solid track record of managing complex business transformation programmes and has established local and pan-African business operations and processes.

“As we work to make sure that we achieve our Ambition 2025 strategy, our business initiatives must be supported by functions that provide a sound foundation for our various commercial operations. The intricacy of today’s business environment and rapid changes require that to achieve our desired business and technological growth, having a strong risk assessment capability is essential to reducing business risks that could place productivity and profitability at risk,” Molapisi concluded.