MTN Group shares took a beating on Tuesday after the company announced at the close of trade on Monday that its chief financial officer had resigned.
Nazir Patel's resignation is as a result of unspecified allegations against him that are under investigation, Africa's largest telecoms operator said.
Brett Goschen replaces Patel. He was previously chief executive officer of MTN's operations in Nigeria, its biggest business after South Africa.
The allegations against Patel are subject to an "ongoing investigation which had been commissioned by the company", MTN said.
MTN's stock fell by almost 3% in early trade before recouping some losses. The share price was down by 2.6% to R174.90 at midday.
"The company has obviously discovered something and has taken decisive action," said Sven Richter, head of frontier markets at Renaissance Asset Managers in South Africa, which holds a stake in MTN. "We like to know that the company has depth of management, that they can find someone who looks like a good candidate and put him into position quickly."
Patel's abrupt exit​
MTN has not announced who will lead its Nigerian operation following Goschen's promotion.
Patel, who took over as chief financial officer in 2009, served on the boards of a number of MTN subsidiaries and participated in several of its merger and acquisition activities.
Richter said the telecoms operator is still a well-run company operating in strong markets, despite Patel's abrupt exit. "We think this is a good buy at this point," he said.
Johannesburg-listed MTN, with businesses in more than 20 countries across Africa and the Middle East, has been the focus of several allegations in the past year.
Turkish rival Turkcell withdrew a $4.2-billion lawsuit against MTN in May, claiming the South African company had used bribery and other underhand methods to stop it from getting a lucrative operating licence in Iran.
MTN denied the charges and appointed an external committee to investigate the allegations, which later cleared the company of any wrongdoing.
MTN was additionally accused of influence peddling for furnishing the house of African Union chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is a former South African foreign affairs minister. The company said the South African government asked it to help refurbish the house in Addis Ababa. – Reuters