CEO Y’ello Manager Award Event

Welcome Address by Amina Oyagbola, Human Resources Executive, at the CEO Y’ello Manager Award Event, Held on Friday, June 20, 2014 at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos

Good evening all,

On behalf of the CEO and members of the Executive Committee, I am delighted to welcome you to yet another edition of the annual CEO Y’ello Manager Award event.

This award is in its third consecutive year, and was introduced in 2011 to reinforce our commitment to instituting a culture of world-class people management practices across MTN.

As you know, sustaining best-in-class people management practices across the business is a key part of our stakeholder engagement strategy. So today, we are pleased to see that the Y’ello Manager initiative continues to thrive and a fresh set of inspiring, exemplary leaders has emerged!

Indeed, bold and inspiring leadership is at the very heart of the Leadership Brand pillar of the MTN Deal – our unique Employee Value Proposition (EVP). This demonstrates the value we place on building exceptional leadership that harnesses and unleashes the full potential of our people.

We say it often and with good reason that our people are our greatest asset. This is because as an Investor in People organisation, investing in and prioritizing the needs of our employees is critical to cultivating a dynamic work force.

I make bold to say that it is at the crux of our efforts to make MTN a Great Place to Work.

Yes, YOU – all of you gathered here and every single employee across the organisation – are the reason why we continue to deploy various development interventions in line with our commitment to embed people management as a core organisational practice and culture. Furthermore, the recent celebration of the first year of our accreditation as Nigeria’s first IIP certified company gives renewed impetus to this commitment, as we inch toward the achievement of the highly coveted IiP Gold Standard.

This commitment is also evident in the presence of our CEO here tonight, as he continues to provide enthusiastic and invaluable support for our strategic people management efforts.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to invite him to make a few opening remarks.