MTN Nigeria has appointed Bukola Ajayi as Chief Information Officer (CIO), handing one of the company’s most important technology leadership roles to a long-serving executive who has spent more than two decades within the organisation.
Ajayi takes over at a time when MTN is expanding its investments in cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence, automation and digital services as it seeks to expand its reach across Nigeria’s competitive telecoms market.
Describing enterprise architecture, digital transformation and platform scale as key areas that have shaped her 27-year career in technology, Ajayi previously served as General Manager, Architecture and Engineering at MTN Nigeria.
During that period, she led architecture and engineering strategy across MTN’s digital, enterprise and customer-facing platforms, supporting services used by over 90 million subscribers.
Her responsibilities also included driving technology transformation programmes, overseeing platform resilience and security, and leading engineering teams across the business.
Ajayi joined MTN in 2003 as an Applications Support Engineer for billing systems and steadily rose through the ranks.
Over the years, she held several leadership positions across enterprise delivery, product development, customer experience operations and information systems before becoming General Manager, Architecture and Engineering.
In her new role, she will oversee the company’s technology strategy and infrastructure as MTN scales platform modernisation and the expansion of digital services.
Speaking on the appointment, Roger Shutte, general manager, Infrastructure and Cloud Engineering at MTN Nigeria, described her growth as recognition of years of hands-on leadership within the organisation.
“Bukola has been part of the engine room since the beginning. Not watching from a distance. Not arriving at the end. But deeply involved in the architecture, engineering, governance, resilience and execution that have shaped Technology in MTN Nigeria over the years,” he said.
Bukola Ajayi assumes the CIO position at a critical period for MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest mobile network operator which serves more than 90 million subscribers and accounts for a significant share of MTN Group’s revenue.
The company has been investing heavily in digital platforms, cloud technologies, artificial intelligence and financial services as it looks beyond traditional voice and data services.
With digital services now indispensable to its operations, Ajayi will be responsible for overseeing MTN’s technology strategy, platform development and information systems.
Her promotion further strengthens female representation in senior technology leadership roles within Nigeria’s telecommunications industry, where women are underrepresented in executive technical positions.
