Following the recent suspension of NetOne’s Chief Executive Officer Lazarus Muchenje. NetOne with immediate effect has appointed its Managing Director for Mobile Financial Services Nkosinathi Ncube as the company’s Acting Chief Executive Officer.
Early this year in March, NetOne appointed Mr Nkosinathi Ncube as its Managing Director for Mobile Financial Services (MFS), becoming the defacto preferred head of mobile financial services in Zimbabwe, after landing his third title at NetOne, which is the same post he had been running at Econet Wireless Zimbabwe and Telecel Zimbabwe as well.
Ncube is well-known in the Mobile Money Financial Services after taking a lead role as the financial services director to launch Telecash, before being promoted to Telecel’s Chief Commercial Officer, he effectively becomes the only individual to wear that one hat across all mobile networks.
Those from the early days would remember Nkosinathi as the man who jumpstarted Ecocash, the brand that has led to the birth of Zimbabwe’s largest commercial bank, Steward Bank. It was a sterling job, but the environment is no longer the same.
He started off his carrier in telecoms as the head business development and planning at TelOne from the year 2005-2006, while before that, he has been a banker with Standard Chartered Bank of Ghana in 1997, and then Zimbabwe from 1998-2001.
He flexed his financial services muscles as the research and innovation analyst with FNB South Africa from 2006-2008 before joining ABSA bank as the Mobile banking services product owner.
Ncube got his name when he was appointed the Ecocash Executive from 2010-2013, the year that saw the boom of mobile money in Zimbabwe.
He finished off from the telecoms sector with another top executive appointment from Telecel Zimbabwe, as he was entrusted with running Telecash, a product that still has potential to disrupt the market from the 2013- 2016.
He will be charged on how he turns around the mobile money financial services as he is officially the new managing director of Mobile Financial Services.
“He has a wealth of experience in banking and mobile financial services spanning over 20 years. Mr Ncube has spearheaded several innovations in the mobile money space. He has held various leadership positions some of which include Head of Applications Lab at Finmark Trust from 2016 until recently. Chief Commercial Officer – Telecel Zimbabwe (2014-2016), Financial Service Director – Telecel Zimbabwe (2013-2014), Ecocash Executive – Econet Wireless Zimbabwe – (2010 -2013) and Product Owner – Mobile Banking Services – ABSA – (2008 – 2010),” said NetOne in a statement.
