MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita marginally out-earned his counterpart, Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub, in the last year. This is in contrast to the previous financial year when Joosub was paid more.
As shown in the table below, compiled by TechCentral, both CEOs earned similar guaranteed pay in their companies’ latest financial years – MTN for the year to end-December 2024 and Vodacom to end-March 2025 – or just north of R18-million each.
The short-term incentive bonuses they were paid were also similar, with Joosub earning R21-million and Mupita R24-million. Mupita also received R165 000 in dividends, while Joosub was paid R5.8-million. Overall, Mupita’s compensation totalled R46.3-million, or just R350 000 more than Joosub’s R45.9-million. This is despite Vodacom Group’s improved financial performance over the last year.
TechCentral analysed the renumeration reports of Africa’s two largest telecommunications operators and looked at some of the key strategic levers driving the performances that have earned their respective CEOs the big bucks. Each total excludes their long-term incentives, which vest at different times and make comparisons less meaningful.
Both Vodacom and MTN have faced similar challenges in the recent past. Consumer spending in their respective operating markets has been muted, with prospects of a resurgence in the world economy undermined by US President Donald Trump’s tariff war and the geopolitical instability in the Middle East, where MTN owns 49% of Iranian mobile operator Irancell.
Currency woes
In the operators’ home market, South Africa, the easing of load shedding over the past year helped offset some of the macroeconomic pressures, but service revenue growth was minimal at 2.6% (to R61.6-billion) for Vodacom South Africa and 3.1% (R43.2-billion) for MTN South Africa.
Bigger challenges prevailed in much of the rest of Africa, where both Vodacom and MTN have operations in various countries, with currency devaluations – in Egypt for Vodacom and Nigeria for MTN – added to the mix. Vodacom fared better in the last year, in part due to key strategic decisions made in recent years starting to bear fruit.
Read: MTN says competition in SA telecoms is intensifying
Under Joosub’s leadership, Vodacom – through affiliate Safaricom – entered Ethiopia in 2022. Being a greenfields operation, the untapped Ethiopian market represents a big growth opportunity for Vodacom, with Safaricom Ethiopia doubling its customer base from 4.4 million to 8.8 million in the group’s 2025 financial year.
Another strategic play overseen by Joosub was Vodacom’s acquisition of a 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt from Vodafone Group, which was completed in December 2022. The Egyptian operation now contributes 23% to Vodacom Group revenue.
Vodafone Egypt also demonstrated strong operational performance, with its success driven by growth in both traditional mobile services and financial services, particularly Vodafone Cash. The acquisition of Vodafone Egypt has proven to be a key strategic move for Vodacom, contributing significantly to its overall growth and expansion in Africa – and investors have taken note.
“Despite start-up challenges in Ethiopia and the impact of the currency devaluation in Egypt and Ethiopia during the prior year, both companies (Vodafone Egypt and Safaricom in Ethiopia) are shifting towards a strong growth trajectory and experiencing a sea change in investor sentiment,” Joosub said in Vodacom’s annual report.
Read: Vodacom, MTN and Telkom battle over network supremacy
MTN, by contrast, has not fared as well as its crosstown rival lately. Currency devaluation has impacted MTN far more than Vodacom, largely due to its exposure to Nigeria, its largest market by both revenue and subscribers.
Naira devaluation combined with instability in Sudan led to a 15.4% year-on-year decline in service revenue to R177.8-billion for the group, accompanied by a 33.5% year-on-year drop in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to R60-billion.
Mupita’s earnings have risen by more than R10-million year on year despite MTN’s lacklustre performance, leading shareholders to raise concerns about executive pay. On 11 June, the group announced that its remuneration report had failed to achieve 75% shareholder support, meaning its remuneration policy could be subject to change. It will hold a shareholder meeting on 26 June to discuss the matter further.
Telkom Group CEO Serame Taukobong earned a total of R12.4-million in the year to end-March 2024. Telkom was not included in the comparison above because the operator’s annual report detailing executive renumeration for the 2025 financial year is yet to be released. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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