MTN Mobile Money (U) Limited has appointed Phrase Lubega as its new Managing Director, a move that signals far more than a routine leadership transition at Uganda’s dominant mobile financial services provider.
Lubega steps into one of the most consequential executive roles in East African fintech at a moment when MTN Group is executing an ambitious continental restructuring of its mobile money operations – one that will ultimately reshape how millions of Ugandans access and interact with digital financial services.
His appointment, subject to approval by the Bank of Uganda, carries the full weight of that ambition.
The selection was anything but hasty. Lubega replaces Richard Yego, the foundational Managing Director who steered the entity through its incorporation as a standalone subsidiary under the National Payment Systems Act and stepped down in March 2026.
The board’s deliberate approach to succession reflects the enormity of what lies immediately ahead: completing the structural separation of MTN Mobile Money from MTN Uganda Limited, a corporate unbundling that shareholders approved by a staggering 99.9% majority in July 2025 and that will produce two independently traded public companies on the Uganda Securities Exchange.
Lubega arrives with the precise credentials this moment demands. His three-decade career spans telecommunications, IT, and financial services across multiple African markets.
Most recently, he served as Interim Managing Director of MoMo Payment Service Bank in Nigeria, where he drove revenue growth, streamlined operations, and launched competitive new products.
Within MTN Group, he has occupied senior fintech commercial roles and, critically, previously served as General Manager of Mobile Financial Services at MTN Uganda – where he led the launch of MoKash and built early frameworks that now underpin a platform processing five billion transactions and UGX195.5 trillion annually.
Serigne Dioum, Group Chief Executive Officer of MTN Group Fintech, left no ambiguity about the strategic logic.
“Phrase brings deep market expertise, strong execution capability and a proven track record of scaling mobile financial services across diverse markets,” Dioum said in a press release.
“His leadership will be instrumental as we strengthen our position in Uganda and continue to expand access to inclusive, secure and innovative digital financial solutions.”
MTN Mobile Money Ltd Board Chairperson Sylvia Mulinge echoed that confidence, noting that Lubega’s governance experience across MTN’s mobile money operations in Benin, Congo Brazzaville, and Guinea Conakry positions him to deliver sustainable value for all stakeholders during this critical transition.
For his part, Lubega struck a note that was purposeful rather than ceremonial.
“I look forward to working with the talented team and our stakeholders to expand access to financial solutions, enhance customer experience, and continue driving the growth of Uganda’s digital economy,” he said.
With advanced financial services – micro-lending, savings, and merchant digitisation – now accounting for 30.6% of MTN’s fintech revenue and growing sharply, the platform Lubega inherits is no longer simply a payments tool.
It is Uganda’s emerging financial infrastructure and the quality of leadership at its helm has never mattered more.
