Telecom operator MTN Group has appointed Dirk Karl to head procurement and supply chain management.

Before joining MTN, Dirk Karl was senior vice president for Network Technology at Buyln, the procurement joint venture between Deutsche Telekom and Orange.

MTN said the new appointment of Dirk Karl will assist the African telecom service provider to focus on delivering EBITDA growth in its key markets of Nigeria and South Africa, through the Project IGNITE initiative.

“We undertook a global search to identify the best candidate to build a world class network and commercial sourcing organisation for MTN Group. Sourcing skills and strategies are critical to delivering best networks for our customers, whilst supporting EBITDA margin evolution and cash generation for the business,” said Ralph Mupita, chief financial officer of MTN Group.

Prior to joining Buyln in 2011, Dirk Karl was global head of Strategic Sourcing for Deutsche Telekom. Additionally, Dirk Karl held a number of senior management roles in various global corporates, including General Motors, ING Group and T Systems.

Dirk Karl led the transition from corporate sourcing departments in both Deutsche Telekom and Orange to a newly created joint venture company.

In a previous role, Dirk Karl introduced and executed worldwide best price alignment initiatives for suppliers, and was also responsible for pioneering the strategic development and launch of a new demand management tool to enable sufficient category bundling, common technology projects and joint resource management across 49 countries in Europe, USA and AMEA.

At MTN, Dirk Karl will be responsible for developing and executing global procurement and sourcing strategies, as well as leveraging MTN’s scale to identify opportunities to drive greater commercial success across its footprint.