Dubai, United Arab Emirates, June 23, 2026: The SAMENA Telecommunications Council has announced the membership of MTN Group to its membership. MTN will be represented by Ms. Lele Modise, the Group’s Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer and an internationally-recognised professional featured on the Legal500 GC Powerlist and Chambers Global rankings as well as Vice-Chair of the ITU Industry Advisory Group on Development Issues and the Private Sector Chief Regulatory Officers forum (AIGDI-CRO).
As a Pan-African digital operator, MTN Group brings practical experience from markets where infrastructure investment, digital inclusion, regulatory certainty, cross-border connectivity, and trusted platforms are closely linked. Through the SAMENA Council, MTN Group aims to contribute operator perspectives to regional industry discussions on critical issues. This includes advancing discussions on infrastructure protection and resilience, enabling sustainable investment models, strengthening data governance frameworks, and promoting trusted digital infrastructure. Additional interest areas for MTN include shaping conversations on cybersecurity, AI readiness, and enabling policy and regulatory frameworks that support long-term sector development, innovation, and inclusive growth across the region.
Commenting on MTN’s membership of the SAMENA Council, Ms. Lele Modise stated:
“Our participation in the work of the SAMENA Council reflects our commitment to shaping bold industry dialogue that supports resilient networks, in an increasingly complex geopolitical environment, catalyzes investment-ready policy frameworks, and drives inclusive digital growth across the markets we serve, thus ensuring better outcomes for customers, enterprises, and the societies.”
Welcoming MTN Group and Ms. Modise to the Council, CEO of the SAMENA Council Bocar BA stated:
“We are pleased to welcome MTN Group to the SAMENA Council. MTN’s experience as a major operator, digital infrastructure investor, and provider of fintech and connectivity platforms across Africa is highly relevant to the priorities of the Council. As telecom infrastructure becomes more central to national resilience, economic development, enterprise growth across industries, and digital transformation, MTN’s perspective will add practical value to our regional industry dialogue and to the wider effort to strengthen secure, sustainable, and investment-ready digital ecosystems.”
As networks increasingly transform and support new essential services and as AI, cloud, fintech, enterprise platforms, and cross-border data flows increase demand on connectivity, operators and ecosystem partners need stronger alignment around infrastructure security, regulatory clarity, cyber resilience, and long-term investment models. In this context, leading operators’ participation in the SAMENA Council supports more focused cross-regional conversations and recommendations on how critical digital infrastructure should be developed and how sustainable digital ecosystems needs to be built.
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About MTN Group
MTN Group is Africa’s largest mobile network operator. The Group serves 312.7 million customers across 19 markets through voice, data, fintech, digital, enterprise, wholesale and API services. MTN’s purpose is leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress, supported by investment in networks, platforms, digital infrastructure, financial inclusion, and connectivity services across its markets.
About the SAMENA Telecommunications Council
The SAMENA Telecommunications Council is the SA-ME-NA region’s industry association representing telecom operators, service providers, technology providers, and digital ecosystem players. The Council engages with regulators, policymakers, international institutions, and industry stakeholders to support sector development, investment, policy alignment, regional cooperation, and digital ecosystem growth across South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.
Source: Press Release
