MTN appoints Adia Sowho as first female Chief Marketing Officer
Adia Sowho has been named as the first female Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of MTN, the largest telco in Nigeria. Sowho’s appointment was announced alongside Shoyinka Shodunke who becomes MTN’s first Nigerian Chief Information Officer (CIO).
The announcement was made as the company celebrates 20 years in operation in Nigeria.
Commenting on the development, Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria said that the appointment follows the decision to narrow down its management team with the appointment of two Nigerians to two key senior positions previously held by expatriates. Sowho, the newly appointed CMO is the focal point of this hope and the catalyst that MTN expects to raise the bar for the telecommunication company.
Recently, the Agriculture investment platform, Thrive Agric appointed her to the position of CEO after reports of misappropriation of investments against the company. Less than a year later, the platform bounced back to national attention, having filled every gap and ready to move forward. Few people were able to connect the dots and realise that Thrive Agric’s newfound confidence was not unconnected to Sowho’s abilities.
With a B.Sc in Electronics and Electrical Engineering (with a major in communications) from the University of Sheffield, UK, and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management (with majors in Strategy, Analytical Consulting, Strategic Marketing and Entrepreneurship), Sowho has many corporate entities bearing her marks. These include Migo, a company in San Francisco, California; Etisalat Nigeria, and others.
Adia is an experienced global executive who synthesizes her background in engineering, consulting, and product development to build and operate leading category-defining businesses. With deep expertise spanning technology, telecommunications, and finance, she has successfully designed, built, and scaled tech-driven platform companies in emerging markets valued at over USD $100+ million.
She is interim CEO at Thrive Agric, one of Nigeria’s largest agri-tech startups. Prior to her current role, she was the VP of Growth and Managing Director, Nigeria for Migo, a machine learning-powered instant credit platform. At Migo, she grew the company’s userbase to one million users and led its expansion to Brazil. Prior to that, she was the Director of Digital Business at 9mobile (formerly Etisalat Nigeria) where she partnered with startups to deliver mobile content, advertising, financial, and API services to the company’s 23 million users.
She also supports Africa’s tech ecosystems as a startup mentor and speaker, working with various Africa-focused VC firms to better prepare their portfolios for scale.
Adia currently serves on the board of Hover and Sankore Investments. She holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Sheffield.
Sowho’s outstanding record and credentials mark her out for greater heights. She has undoubtedly blazed a trail for other women to follow.
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