Africa's largest mobile operator MTN on Monday said it has appointed Sifiso Dabengwa as its chief executive officer and president to replace Phuthuma Nhleko, effective March 31. Dabengwa, MTN's current Chief Operating Officer, has been with the group for 11 years. Prior to joining MTN, the largest company with a primary listing in Johannesburg, Dabengwa was an executive director at state power utility Eskom . He has held senior management positions at MTN and managed the company's two biggest units, Nigeria and South Africa. MTN also said in a statement that the position of chief operating officer has been abolished and instead it will appoint a new chief executive of its international operations. The company also said that Nhleko has accepted the board's invitation to become a non-executive vice chairman and non-executive chairman of yet-to-be established MTN international operations board. MTN shares were up 1.1 percent to 128.40 rand, outperforming the Johannesburg's Top 40 index, which was up 0.16 percent as of 0749 GMT. Source: Reuters