SAMENA Council welcomes MTN Group to its membership of operators, tech providers, and ecosystem partners

Pan-African operator joins regional industry council to drive dialogue on infrastructure resilience, cybersecurity, data governance, and AI readiness.

The SAMENA Telecommunications Council has welcomed MTN Group into its membership of leading operators, technology providers, and ecosystem partners. MTN represented by 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 leading Pan-African operator, MTN Group brings hands-on experience from markets where infrastructure investment, regulatory certainty, and digital inclusion go hand in hand. Through the SAMENA Council, MTN will contribute practical operator insights across several key priorities:

• Emerging Tech & Policy: Driving discussions on AI readiness and regulatory frameworks that foster long-term sector growth and innovation.
• Infrastructure & Resilience: Advancing network protection and sustainable investment models.
• Governance & Security: Strengthening data governance frameworks, cybersecurity, and trusted digital infrastructure.

“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.”

Lele Modise

“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.”

CEO of the SAMENA Council Bocar BA

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.