South African executive Tsholofelo Molefe takes $3.2-million pay from MTN in 2025

South African executive Tsholofelo Molefe, Group Chief Financial Officer of MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecom services provider, saw her total compensation at the end of 2025 skyrocket by 54.71% to exceed $3 million, fueled by the telecom giant’s exceptional financial performance. 

MTN profit recovery boosts executive pay

Molefe’s compensation for 2025 reached a substantial R52.02 million ($3.17 million), a significant leap from the R33.63 million ($2.05 million) she received the previous year. 

This increase reflects the outstanding performance of MTN Group, which swung from a loss to a profit of R47.43 billion ($2.81 billion), marking one of the biggest financial recoveries in the company’s recent history.

Compensation driven by performance incentives
Her 2025 compensation package comprised a base salary of R12.74 million ($776,591) and a performance-based short-term incentive of R17.11 million ($1.04 million), both attributed to MTN Group’s exceptional financial performance. 

She also received a long-term incentive award of R22.17 million ($1.35 million) from Africa’s largest telecom services provider to acknowledge her unwavering dedication to the group and her wealth of expertise as a seasoned finance professional. 

Molefe’s career and leadership at MTN
Molefe joined MTN Group in 2021 as Group Chief Financial Officer, bringing with her a wealth of experience in financial strategy, capital management, and enterprise risk oversight across both public and private sector institutions. Her appointment marked a pivotal moment for the telecom giant as it sought to reinforce financial discipline and strengthen its balance sheet amid evolving market dynamics.

Prior to joining MTN, Molefe held senior finance leadership roles as Finance Director at Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, Chief Financial Officer for the Personal Segment Unit at First National Bank, and Audit Manager at Absa Group. She began her professional journey at PricewaterhouseCoopers (formerly Coopers & Lybrand), where she completed her audit and accounting training, laying a strong technical foundation in finance and governance. 

She has also played a central role in advancing MTN’s Ambition 2025 strategy, supporting initiatives such as the structural separation of platform businesses, portfolio optimisation, and asset realisation, further positioning the group for sustainable long-term growth.

MTN returned to profit of nearly $3 billion from loss
In 2025, the pan-African telecom giant delivered strong service revenue, reporting a 22.59% rise from R188 billion ($11.15 billion) to R226.71 billion ($13.45 billion), lifted by strong contributions from Nigeria, Ghana, and its home market, South Africa, contributing R51.09 billion ($3.03 billion) to the Group’s revenue. The group also swung from a loss to a profit of R47.43 billion ($2.81 billion), marking one of the biggest financial recoveries in the company’s recent history.

Subscriber base expands above 300 million

MTN expanded its subscriber base significantly during the year, adding 16.3 million customers to reach 307.2 million users across 16 markets.

Assets and equity show strong growth

Additionally, MTN Group’s total assets rose 15.51% to R498.71 billion ($29.58 billion) from R431.73 billion ($25.6 billion), while total equity advanced 23.38% to R169.73 billion ($10.07 billion) from R137.57 billion ($8.16 billion).