Corporate report
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To the future: CEO reflects
Growing core connectivity, fintech and digital infrastructure, Ralph Mupita and his team are setting the company up for the next 30 years
Mudiwa Gavaza
● Legend has it that on June 1 1994, Nelson Mandela made the first call on MTN’s network.
A year earlier, the company had secured one of two mobile telephony licences in South Africa, marking the start of a communications and digital revolution whose impact is still felt 30 years later.
In 2024, Ralph Mupita is at the helm of Africa’s largest mobile operator and loving the experience.
“I often tell the story that when I started at MTN, the board said they couldn’t guarantee my happiness but assured [me] that I would never be bored,” he says.
Having joined the group in 2017 as finance chief, then becoming CEO after Rob Shuter’ s departure in 2020, Mupita appears to be far from bored.
“I enjoy it,” he says.
MTN has been working to reduce the impact of oil markets on its business through a strategy called Ambition 2025. It seeks to reduce group debt, exit troublesome territories, grow new areas of business, sell noncore assets and unlock value by separating out certain
business units.
Since that first fateful call, MTN has grown its customer base to 288-million across 18 markets, while active data subscribers have grown to 152.8-million.
To push the telecommunications group even further, Mupita sees three units in MTN as fuelling future growth.
“I’m excited about three platforms: connectivity, fintech and infrastructure. They give us a good growth profile for many years to come. And that’s in a
market where data, digital adoption and financial inclusion are structurally big drivers of growth.”
First is the connectivity business the traditional wireless business, but increasingly a combination of wireless and fixed access.
“That’s what’s reviving the profits and cash flow generation of the group right now and will continue to do so over the next three to five years, if not longer,” he explains.
That core connectivity business takes 90% of its capital.
“I’m very focused on the connectivity business because that still drives value creation over the medium to long term the ability to connect our customers and businesses with wireless and fixed access, riding on the wave of increasing internet and digital adoption on the African continent.”
Fintech is the next growth curve in the business.
This business is already at scale, with Mobile Money monthly active users increasing 5.7% to 61.5million by the end of the third quarter.
Even then, the unit is regarded as being “in a growth cycle” , regularly reporting expansion numbers above 20%, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation are growing faster than service revenue, and its
capex intensity is “low single digit”
“We’re doing quite a lot of work around deepening partnerships, bringing minority investors in and beginning to carve out that business so that it is standalone.
“It has a very high level of free cash flow generation and will do so over time,” says Mupita.
According to the MTN boss, “the financial inclusion opportunity in Africa is enormous”
“We see it with the number of transactions on our fintech platform. We see it in the growth of the merchants, [the] growth of the user base and that’s with a mix of basic and advanced services.”
In the third quarter, fintech transaction volumes increased 17.4% to 14.9-billion, with the transaction value rising 27.1% to $229.2bn.
The World Bank shows that in 2022, 49% of adults in SubSaharan Africa had a bank account, a rate that had more than doubled since 2011. That said, there is considerable variation from country to country, ranging from 6% account ownership in South Sudan to 80% in Kenya. In 16 of the 36 economies surveyed by the international financier in 2021/2022, more than 50% of adults have an account.
In this equation, mobile money “continues to significantly affect account ownership rates”, the bank says.
Between 2017 and 2022, nine out of 36 surveyed economies experienced doubledigit account ownership growth, driven in most of them by mobile money adoption. Across the African continent, an average 28% of adults have a MTN CEO Ralph Mupita
mobile money account more than twice the developing economy average.
The almost 75% of adults yet to open a mobile money account form part of the opportunity MTN sees.
“Advanced services are growing at a very high pace over 50%; in the past few reporting periods, we’ ve seen them at that level, whether it be payments, remittance or bank tech. So the natural growth in this business is very strong,” says Mupita.
The group has been working to separate its fintech unit into a standalone entity, headed by Serigne Dioum as CEO of MTN Group Fintech. The process has required effort at both group and individual country level.
“We’re progressing with the carve-out and we’re looking to complete it so that it is a fully standalone business with its own financial structure, own governance and, ultimately, its own capital, profile, investors and topco [top company].” Additionally, the group is looking for strategic investors that can accelerate the business beyond typical financial investment.
In early 2024, Mastercard bought a 3.8% stake in MTN’ s $5.2bn fintech business in a
nod to the growth and prominence of the mobile operator’ s clout in financial services.
“We started a process with Mastercard. We will continue that process over the next couple of years to bring in minority investors who have an appetite for that asset.
”
MTN plans to continue having a controlling stake in the fintech business, as it looks to retain 70% equity.
“That’s the vision we have of the business and we are progressing with that,” Mupita says. “It’s a business that’s going to evolve from one that has a tech stack where the interface is for USSD primarily to one that is ‘appified’ as customers move from 2G handsets to more [advanced] handsets in the future.
”
He adds: “The final trend I would raise is the rapid adoption of digital payments. Today we ’re talking about USSD and QR codes in payments. We’ re going to move to contactless
What we are doing in driving digital and financial inclusion is to give Africans dignity, hope and opportunity
payments quite rapidly and the development of e-commerce in Africa, in a very African way.
”
He sees a future where e-commerce accounts for the informality that characterises many African economies.
In addition to these growth areas, Mupita takes a broader view of the market as someone who keeps a keen eye on technological developments around the world.
“I love technology,” he says, alluding to his trips to places such as Silicon Valley and China in an effort to understand what MTN needs to do to maintain its edge.
“Over the next decade, I think in-market consolidation is going to be more of a theme in Africa following on the trends that we see in Europe, Asia and the US.”
Across the world, co-investment, or at least the pooling of resources, is the direction the telecoms industry is moving in when it comes to capital expenditure.
“Digital infrastructure and services, at scale, is a global trend and Africa will catch on to that at some point. We think inmarket consolidation, where it makes sense, deserves consideration,” says Mupita.
For its part, MTN has
invested heavily in its own fibre through the Bayobab business, and is undertaking a R6bn project between East and West Africa in partnership with infrastructure investment outfit Africa50.
Another trend Mupita sees is a move towards more converged telecoms players, with both fixed and wireless access able to provide connectivity “when people are in transit, at home or at work”
He says: “The past decade has been about wireless access and propositions separate from fixed. The converged set of solutions for enterprise and individuals is a trend that we see across our markets and [it] creates opportunity.”
Aligned to that is the deployment of satellite technologies “and how those interplay with terrestrial access, ensuring people and businesses are always connected” Over time, Mupita and his team see a combination of nonterrestrial, terrestrial and subsea connectivity as providing ubiquitous communications access, no matter where a person may be in the world.
“These are all technologies that enable businesses and individuals to always be connected to the internet”, even if they are in poor coverage areas
Ralph Mupita
such as forests or big water bodies.
Then there is the growth potential AI can bring to Africa.
“Even as the wireless industry developed, there was a sense in the late 1980s that wireless technologies were not for Africa or for the poor,” Mupita says. “Less than a decade later, it was growing very quickly in Africa and leapfrogging fixed line.
“So, as much as people today talk about generative AI, and AI more generally, there’ sa big delta to how everything is done. The investments right now and the use cases are all largely in the Global North.
“I think within the next five to 10 years we’ll see big growth for that as the cost to run these large language models comes down ... AI is a big trend.”
Outside technology, “the megatrend that will shape MTN is our ability to tap into the youth. Africa has a big youth bulge and we’ll have the biggest youth population by 2050”, he says.
How does MTN provide services for that youthful population?
For Mupita, the most important metric is seeing what the youth think about the company, “because they are the future”
He believes the best way to keep up with the youth is to have a youthful employee base. “At MTN, our average [employee] age is about 37.”
In three decades MTN has come a long way, now dominating the African telecoms landscape. Whether it’ s growing the core connectivity business or investing in new lines of business, it’s clear that Mupita and his team are setting the company up for the next 30 years.
Looking in the rear-view mirror, many words can be used to describe this force in African telecoms.
For Mupita, MTN’s 30 years have been “transformative” x
A trailblazer — not just a business
Beyond consumers and enterprises, senior vice-president of markets Ebenezer Asante sees MTN as a corporate operating with a purpose
Mudiwa Gavaza
● “Stickiness” is a concept that has been taught and sought after in business for decades.
It refers to the ability of a company to attract and retain customers over a long period. The challenge for businesses is to keep customers coming back for more through products and services, and discourage them from switching to competitors.
Consumer-facing businesses all have this goal. However, translating strategies from one sector to another is not simple.
This is the challenge Ebenezer Asante faced when he left Unilever to join MTN 17 years ago.
“I joined MTN in 2008 after 13, 14 years of a management career with Unilever, and my whole life before joining was one characterised by dealing with FMCG [fastmoving consumer goods] and dealing with mass consumers, trying to satisfy the everyday needs of people on the continent and beyond.
“MTN gave me my first taste of technology.”
For MTN and other mobile operators, the goal is simple: get a person to register their SIM cards, and keep them on the network for as long as possible. This is why companies tend to measure and report on active subscribers or customers.
In its three decades of existence, MTN has grown to become one of the largest mobile providers in the world
and the biggest in Africa, with 288-million customers.
By the end of the third quarter of 2024, MTN had more customers than the US’ s two largest operators, Verizon and T-Mobile, combined.
As senior vice-president of markets at MTN, Asante has overall profit and loss responsibility for all of MTN’ s regions.
“I am responsible for the 16 markets, with two of the vicepresidents, Yolanda Cuba and Ismail Jaroudi, supporting me, each of them has a segment of the markets that they look after.
”
He says the markets leadership team has just one mandate: “To bring MTN to the market and in the same way bring the market reflection and perspective back to MTN, so that decisions we are making will be richer and take cognisance of the reality in the market for MTN’s longterm success.
”
The group is famous for having penetrated Africa, after its founding in 1994, bringing connectivity for the first time to a number of cities, towns and villages.
The group’s first real opportunity to move into Africa came in 1996 when the Ugandan government called for tenders for a second mobile licence in partnership
Senior vice-president of markets Ebenezer Asante
with its posts and telecoms service. Within just 10 days the group was able to put in an application only for the Ugandan government to cancel it.
Before that, the company had had a similar experience in Zimbabwe.
Over time, the portfolio of markets has changed.
Its north star is a strategy called Ambition 2025, with the goal of exiting troublesome territories, reducing
group debt, growing new areas of business, selling noncore assets and unlocking value by separating out certain business units.
As part of the strategy, the mobile operator has been working to exit three of its smaller operations in West Africa: MTN Guinea-Bissau, MTN Guinea-Conakry and MTN Liberia. By the end of 2024, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry had been sold.
In the Middle East, the Yemen and Syria businesses were sold in 2021. Only Iran remains in the group’s Middle East portfolio after it sold its Afghanistan shareholding to Investcom, an affiliate of Singaporean telecommunications company M1, in February 2024.
Translating one big group strategy to ensure that it works in the portfolio of markets is no easy feat.
“So my work involves travelling a lot, going into the markets, visiting the stakeholders, visiting customers, sitting in the room to review
operational performance and above all ensuring that the delivery of the strategy is on track in every single market,” says Asante.
“And while we do this, we also try to manage and control some of the material risks that a business could be exposed to, so that even when we are succeeding, we don’t succeed on the blind side of risks that one day can come to destroy the business.”
To illustrate this, Asante uses MTN’s headaches in Nigeria over the past decade.
In 2015, MTN was infamously slapped with a $1bn fine by Nigeria’s government for not deregistering SIM cards an administrative bungle that cost then CEO Sifiso Dabengwa his job. MTN managed to negotiate down on the original fine of $5.2bn.
In December 2018, the mobile operator resolved an $8bn fine related to repatriated dividends. A $2bn tax bill was revoked in 2020 after MTN had contested it.
These are just a few of the issues the group has faced in
its biggest operation.
Says Asante: “MTN Nigeria was succeeding until we had a subscriber fine some years ago. We have learnt a great deal from all these issues to ensure that governance and risk mitigation are critical things. From time to time, the material ones are brought to the attention of the group so that, with the collective wisdom of the group executive committee, we are able to navigate our way through.”
Asante says he brought his consumer understanding and a go-to market approach for doing business in Africa from his FMCG background.
“What MTN gave me, on top of that, was technology understanding. When I fuse the FMCG with MTN technol-
Our sector is not just an industry, but an enabler for every single sector of all the countries [we operate in]
Ebenezer Asante
ogy, it becomes: how do I now dispense technology as a very fast-moving consumer good to everyone on the continent, and to enterprises that have a need for it?”
In addition to the consumer factor, MTN is a big player in the enterprise services market.
“As you know, because we are [in] technology, we are the industry of industries. Our sector is not just an industry, but an enabler for every single sector of all the countries [we operate in] whether it’ s education, infrastructure, communication, environmental protection or foreign affairs.”
Asante says MTN has therefore acquired a lot of understanding and insight into different economies and business sectors.
“I’ve learnt a lot through these years I’ve spent at MTN about technology, about nation states, about our own continent.” His knowledge of Africa would not have been as great as it is today if it weren’t for
MTN.
He does a great deal of travelling. “Sometimes within a week, I visit five countries,” Asante says.
“You go to South Sudan, the youngest nation on the continent, which is struggling to really get on its feet, then you jump to Rwanda and see the contrast. From Rwanda, you jump to Uganda, its next-door neighbour, then maybe fly over to another country.”
Within five days, Asante sees what makes different parts of the continent tick.
“If you are a student, you learn a lot and it will earn you the greatest humility ... MTN has made me real because it keeps my feet firmly grounded,” he says.
Beyond consumers and enterprises, Asante sees MTN
as a corporate operating with a purpose.
“When I joined, the main reason ... was the fact that MTN positioned itself in many regards as a trailblazer, a trailblazer for business on the continent, for leaders on the continent. And it was something I labelled as an activist business.
“MTN is born out of the struggles in post-apartheid South Africa, and the structures that the visionary leaders put in place bring some empowerment to all, irrespective of race, colour, class, or gender. MTN was one of the instruments that emerged,” he says.
One of the areas in which MTN has blazed a trail is in financial services, now referred to as fintech,
A proud history
From a small South African start-up with 20 employees to a global telecoms leader
● Few local companies have a story as intertwined with that of the post-apartheid “miracle” as MTN, which has over the past 30 years grown to be not only a domestic telecommunications champion but an African titan.
Since its inception in 1994, MTN has evolved from a small South African start-up with 20 employees into a global telecoms leader, employing more than 17,500 people, representing more than 70 nationalities, across 18 diverse markets.
MTN South Africa CEO Charles Molapisi couldn’t be prouder of the company that MTN has turned out to be, and of the socioeconomic impact
it has had in its home market, where it employs 4,000 people.
“This company has brought hope, dignity and progress to South Africa. We have contributed immensely to its GDP growth. We are one of the biggest taxpayers in the country today,” he says.
“We invest annually on average about R8bn-R9bn. That investment does not only go to the network operators but also to local suppli-
powered by mobile wallets.
According to Asante, this has made the group an even bigger economic enabler.
“It’s not just a business. It is also an economic enabler in the hands of the various governments that we do business with. And I hope and pray that a day will come that just as President [Paul] Kagame saw the light and went with MTN to transition Rwanda towards a cashless economy, more governments will do that.”
He says mobile money can even transform the way taxes are collected, capturing those who have traditionally been left out of such economic participation.
“In Rwanda, some of the work that we did was for the government to use mobile money to collect informal
taxes. Small operators and traders will remit their taxes daily. They don’t need to wait until the end of the month. Those who have to pay by the end of the month don’t need to go to the Rwanda Revenue Authority office to pay.
“For some of them, the cost of transportation may even be higher than the taxes they would pay in a day. Mobile money enables that and I’ m looking forward to working with many government entities and nations to use the power of mobile money to deliver prosperity to every African in the markets that we operate in.”
Its unsurprising that after having such a storied career at MTN, Asante describes the group’s 30 years in business as “trailblazing” x
ers that build the network and subcontract with original equipment manufacturers.
“More profoundly, we have enabled digital inclusion in South Africa, which drives education and health inclusion. In terms of connectivity, internet access and penetration, 30 years ago this country was practically nowhere.”
MTN continues to partner with all sectors, including the government in connnecting clinics, hospitals, schools and departments. It has also united the country through sports, with investments in the Springboks and MTN8.
A big part of MTN South Africa’s history has been tied to the creation of knowledge
Kabelo Khumalo
MTN South Africa CEO Charles Molapisi
Special Report ?????
Corporate Report MTN Group
workers who drive connectivity, enabling consumers and businesses to thrive in the digital age.
When MTN was launched, a mere 1% of adult black South Africans had telephones in their homes.
This stark statistic highlighted the deep inequality of apartheid, which limited access to information and opportunities for many. The advent of cellular telephony held the promise of a more connected future, one in which communication was no longer a privilege but a right.
The stage was set for a mobile revolution that would sweep across the country, empowering individuals and communities and connecting the country.
MTN has been at the forefront of this revolution, a feat Molapisi is proud of.
“Providing network access to the most remote areas is a source of great pride for the
company. I have seen what connectivity has done in the villages of this country. It has narrowed the gap between those who have access to education and those who don’t,” he says.
“I am also proud of what we have done on the education front. When we open digital labs at schools and see the joy it brings to communities, that makes our work all the more meaningful.
”
MTN has spent billions to bring modern, connected living to every South African, with an impressive expansion of its 5G and LTE networks.
This company has brought hope, dignity and progress to South Africa. We have contributed immensely to its GDP growth
Charles Molapisi
By continuing its robust network modernisation efforts, MTN is ensuring that its customers whether in bustling urban centres or remote rural areas can enjoy fast, reliable and resilient connectivity.
In 2024, MTN modernised more than 400 network sites, reaching a network availability score of more than 98%.
MTN has also expanded its 5G network, which now covers 44% of South Africa. As part of its 5G 2024 deployment programme, it has rolled out 5G connectivity across more than 900 sites, using the midband spectrum to expand coverage nationwide.
Looking ahead, MTN is not only focused on individual consumers but also on businesses and industries. Four commercial proposals for 5G private networks are in development, with sectors such as mining, manufacturing, education and logistics poised to benefit from this cutting-edge
technology. The influence of MTN in South Africa since 1994 was summed up by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his speech at an event marking the company ’s 30th anniversary.
“Its network reaches about 97% of the population, providing a foundation for digital inclusion and economic empowerment. The industry has helped to democratise public goods and services. It has enabled the provision of financial, health, education, social welfare and other services to the most far-flung areas.
“As South Africa enters a new era in its democratic journey, so MTN begins a new chapter in its remarkable story. As we work to improve the lives of the people of South Africa, we know that we can rely on the ingenuity, the industry and the commitment of the MTN team to support these efforts,” he said. x
The Power of Y’ello, or how to live inspired
MTN believes in fostering a meaningful, connected, positive and purposeful environment for its people
Kabelo Khumalo
● With a workforce spanning four generations and more than 70 nationalities, MTN’s lived ethos of the Power of Y’ello is the glue that binds its more than 17,500 employees together to pursue a common purpose of connecting Africa.
Paul Norman, group chief human resources officer, says
that what makes MTN unique and an employer of choice is the diversity of its people and their passion for a transformed and prosperous Africa.
“As a company, as leaders and as HR, our unified mission is to spark and nurture the intrinsic power within our people and cultivate an inspiring workplace culture. Rooted in this commitment is our employee value proposition, ‘Live Inspired’, our promise to create an inspired life for our employees,” Norman says.
“Over the past few years, the ‘Live Inspired’ promise has been the north star guiding our people, organisation and culture actions. Our success is a testament to MTN’s firm belief in fostering a meaningful, connected, posit-
The healthier MTNers are, the healthier the whole of MTN will be
ive and purposeful environment for our people one that translates into real impact for our customers, communities and nations.
“Over the years, we have had the honour of being recognised in various prestigious global forums. These are not just accolades but milestones marking our commitment to shaping a brighter, more connected, more empowered future for all.
”
Y
’ello, or a greeting in MTN’ s culture, connects the group and its people to their African roots. In Africa, a greeting is a deeply meaningful and respectful experience. In Zulu, for instance, sawubona means “I see you; I accept you as you are”
Similarly, across its diaspora, MTN embraces multiple languages to greet with respect, kindness and hospitality.
“Reflecting the reverence attached to greetings in multiple African cultures, Y’ello has become MTN’s unique way of linking our brand identity to the most powerful human interaction a greeting, a connection,” Norman says. The culture of excellence fostered at MTN
and captured in its “Live Inspired” code filters through in the success of the company, the largest telecommunications group in Africa.
Forty percent of its workforce are women and 78% are millennials. About 34% of management roles in the group are held by women, with 36% of the board made up of women.
The company aims to have a gender-equal workforce by 2030.
“Our ambition is propelled by qualitative and quantitative targets for greater gender parity across critical workforce segments,” Norman says.
“Core to our gender equality ambition is empowerment we believe that the representation of women in leadership and on our boards is essential. We are determined to ensure that across our footprint women have a seat at the table where decisions are made.”
MTN’s successor development strategy is aimed at ensuring a strong pipeline of well-rounded future leaders who can align and lead MTN with purpose.
As at December 31 2023, the group had identified 351 successors across all roles, 33% of whom were women.
One of the key strategies to retain and attract top talent is embedding wellbeing into the fabric of the organisation.
“The MTN employee value proposition is ‘Live Inspired’ , not ‘Work Inspired’. If we want the best people to give their best, they must be at their best physically, emotionally and financially. If we can achieve this, then we can all truly thrive in positivity,” Norman says.
“This requires an organisation to weave wellbeing into its culture, from the way we provide feedback to the way we support each other in times of stress or the ability for people to feel safe to be themselves.
“Doctors tell us that good habits lead to good long-term
Paul Norman
Paul Norman, group chief human resources officer
health. Similarly, the onus is on HR to foster an environment of good habits. The healthier MTNers are, the healthier the whole of MTN will be.”
Acknowledging the power of digital, in 2022 the company launched its home-grown panAfrican employee wellbeing app, MTN Move, which focuses
on four essential wellbeing dimensions: physical fitness, and mental, social and nutritional wellbeing.
More than 90% of the
group’s employees are active users of the app, making it the single largest application used by MTNers across its footprint. x
Becoming fintech royalty
MTN’s MoMo product is seen as the future for driving the group’s success in Africa
Mudiwa Gavaza
● MTN is going all in on fintech and the opportunity that banking the unbanked presents.
As Africa’s largest mobile operator turns 30, it hopes that offering a slew of services through mobile wallets will expand and extend the life of its business.
Perhaps this will ensure the operator’s viability for another three decades.
At the start of 2025, the plan appears to be bearing fruit.
The World Bank estimates that about half of Africans do not have a bank account. This is the gap that mobile money is filling and the opportunity that MTN and others see in the market, using their already large customer bases and extensive distribution networks.
MTN’s Mobile Money (MoMo) unit now has 61.5 million customers.
With declining voice revenue and data margins squeezed as a result of public pressure and regulations, mobile operators have been looking at other ways to generate revenue, leveraging their already large customer bases. For MTN, which has about 288-million subscribers across Africa and
There is a lot of attention from investors because of how we are driving fintech and how successful we are
the Middle East, fintech is one of its areas of focus, driven by mobile payments.
For the nine months to endSeptember 2024, the group reported $229.2bn in transaction volume. At the June 2024 half-year mark, fintech accounted for just under 13% of group service revenue at R10.96bn.
The pivot makes sense.
The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) says mobile money transactions rose 23% year on year in 2023 to 85billion. Between 2013 and 2022, countries with mobile money services had a $600bn higher GDP than those without, equivalent to mobile money boosting GDP by about 1.5%, the GSMA says in its 2024 “State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money”
When Serigne Dioum, now CEO of MTN’s financial services arm, joined the group in the late 2000s, MTN had begun the search for new lines of business as voice began to dip.
“My dedication, my passion,
Serigne Dioum
was to help MTN on that journey of driving the new source of revenue growth, and for me it was fintech, which is why I started the fintech business in MTN and growing it with my team to where it is today.”
For Dioum, the past 15 years have been about promoting financial inclusion and transforming MTN “from a voicecentric business to a more platform business”
MTN started tinkering with mobile money in the 2000s when M-Pesa, EcoCash, Airtel Money and others were taking off.
Dioum says the turning point came in 2013 when the company launched its strategy of building a fintech foundation in Ghana, from where it would expand into other markets.
“I moved to Ghana and was based there for one year with my team of four. We invested money and we had strategies that we were driving. That year, we moved from 100,000 customers to 1.2-million customers, ” he says.
“That was really the turning point where we realised that it could work everywhere. The idea was to replicate it in the rest of the markets.”
In Ghana, MTN’s thirdlargest market, the group scored successes that it had not been able to achieve in its home market of South Africa, and the unit became a formidable force in African fintech.
Growing MTN’s financial services in South Africa has been a battle. The company first launched its mobile money platform locally in 2012 but pulled the plug four years later; commercial viability was elusive because three-quarters of the population had bank accounts. Vodacom also shut its M-Pesa mobile money service in South Africa in 2016, for similar reasons.
Having taken a second swing in 2020, MTN had a base of 11-million users as of September 2024. Services in-
clude in-store payments, prepaid services, mobile wallets, microloans, microinsurance and a point-of-sale solution.
Vodacom, which operates M-Pesa with Kenya’s Safaricom, has taken a similar approach in South Africa, offering various financial services such as loans for airtime and an e-commerce offering through its VodaPay app.
While the majority of MTN’ s fintech revenue derives from basic services such as withdrawals and payments, the unit has had growth in advanced services such as remittances and airtime advances.
Even then, financial inclusion is more about opening up opportunities that would otherwise remain untapped or out of reach for certain groups.
“Mobile money boosts financial inclusion and digital access, serving as a catalyst for achieving 15 of the 17 UN sustainable development goals, up from 13 in 2019,” says the GSMA. The association says credit has become the most popular adjacent financial service offered by mobile money providers.
MTN, like rival Vodacom, is working to add more layers to its mobile payments platform. It has tended to focus on insurance but it sees a future for lending through its financial services unit.
For example, in partnership with fintech company Jumo, it launched a lending facility Qwikloan in early 2024 aimed at small businesses.
MTN says Qwikloan gives mobile money customers access to short-term loans ranging from R250 to R10,000 via their cellphones.
Serigne Dioum, CEO of MTN Group Fintech
As with its other offerings such as remittances, MTN has made market inroads by beating rivals on price.
The result is that consumers have access to services and utilities from which they were previously excluded.
“We’ve partnered with companies to drive solar energy in places like Uganda. In a lot of countries, we have examples where people get lights for the first time, enabled by MTN,” Dioum says.
He explains that in remote areas where there is no electricity infrastructure, people can use mobile money to buy solar packs that they install in their homes, paying for the fees with mobile wallets.
“I think that has contributed to improving people’s quality of life,” Dioum says.
The group’s decision to make fintech a key part of its strategy is understandable and, Dioum says, it meshes with Ambition 2025 the group’ s strategy premised on reducing debt, exiting operations in the Middle East, growing new areas of business, selling noncore assets and unlocking value by separating out certain business units.
“In Ambition 2025, fintech occupies a very big piece of the strategy to transform MTN from telco to techco [technology company],” Dioum says.
“Fintech is the first platform and a material one. There is a lot of attention from investors because of how we are driving fintech and how successful we are. ”
The fintech unit operates separately with its own management, customer base and reporting structure.
MTN, which has long argued that the value of such assets is not truly reflected in its share price, has opened up the unit to external strategic investors.
In early 2024, US payments giant Mastercard invested R3.8bn in MTN’s fintech business as part of a plan to partner with industry experts to help grow that new revenue line.
The transaction values the unit at $5.2bn.
The deal is seen as a nod to the growth and prominence of the broader fintech landscape in South Africa and the rest of the continent.
MTN plans to continue having a con-
trolling stake in the fintech business, as it looks to retain 70% equity.
The now-agreed valuation with Mastercard would peg the fintech unit as a top 40 company in South Africa, above the likes of Bidvest, Sibanye-Still-
water, Remgro, Old Mutual and Exxaro. The valuation puts the unit in the same club as Standard Bank, FirstRand and Nedbank.
Estimates for rival M-Pesa, the best-known mobile payment business in Africa, vary.
Analysts peg the unit’s value at $3bn-$10bn.
MTN sees Mastercard as a good partner for furthering its financial inclusion goals, Dioum says. “The partnership with Mastercard enables [merchants] to accept mobile
A sustainable way of doing business
MTN has found ways to take care of its communities and the environment, while maximising returns for shareholders
Mudiwa Gavaza
● JSE-listed MTN is proof that doing good as a corporate citizen can make business sense.
In 2023, the group was named Africa’s No 1 sustainable brand by Brand Africa and Brand Finance. At the same time, MTN retained its position
as South Africa’s most valuable brand and achieved the highest sustainability perceptions value of R5.7bn.
Nompilo Morafo, group chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer, says these awards are “a testament to the tangible impact of our efforts”
She adds: “At MTN, sustainability drives our vision of creating a connected, inclusive and prosperous Africa.”
“Sustainability” has become a catch-all word for “doing good” and investing responsibly. Under this umbrella sits ESG, which focuses on how
environmental, social and governance factors affect a company ’s operational efficiency and strategic direction.
In essence, the concept seeks to move away from the zero-sum approach of doing
Our commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2040 is supported by a range of impactful initiatives
Nompilo Morafo
money, but also other means of payments”
He sees synergies in the ability to issue virtual cards, which allow customers to transact on e-commerce platforms and send remittances with the US company. x
business, which is that for an enterprise to succeed, someone else must lose. Such losses could be in the form of lost sales for competitors, loss of the natural environment, negatively affecting the quality of life for certain communities, or blatant human exploitation.
MTN is, of course, a profitseeking organisation. But in making that profit, it has found ways to take care of its communities and the environment, while maximising returns for shareholders.
Put another way, sustainability is the concept or idea of “meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”, according to McGill University.
Morafo says: “With global reports indicating that only 12% of the UN sustainable development goal [SDG] targets are on
track, MTN is committed to transforming this challenge into an opportunity to lead change across the continent. By integrating the SDGs into our strategy, we aim to address Africa’s unique challenges while contributing to global progress.”
The SDGs are 17 interconnected goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”. The goals, encompassing social, economic and environmental challenges, were established in 2015 by the UN general assembly and are intended to be achieved by 2030.
The telecoms group is putting its money where its mouth is on the issue.
Morafo highlights that in 2023, MTN contributed R159bn to the economies of its host countries, representing a 12% increase from the previous year. This included R61.7bn in taxes, “enough to fund the construction of 500 schools or provide health-care access to millions”
In recent years, the concept has become more mainstream as large investors and fund managers have increasingly incorporated ESG factors into their investment strategies and engaged with companies on sustainability issues.
Part of the rationale is a recognition that ESG can have a material impact on a company ’s long-term financial performance and risk profile.
MTN would argue that its impact is felt in the normal course of doing business in its various markets.
Morafo says: “Since its inception in 1994, MTN has been a catalyst for socioeconomic transformation across Africa, driving connectivity, inclusion and empowerment.”
For instance, in Nigeria, its “investments in local infrastructure supported 10,000 direct jobs and thousands more indirectly in industries like construction and logistics”
Similarly, in Zambia, MTN’ s expansion of 4G networks led to increased mobile penetration, enabling more than 2-million previously unconnected individuals to access digital services.
Additionally, the company is working to influence those in its supply chain to use sustainable practices.
Gone are the days when the market would absolve large corporate players of responsibility for how their suppliers and service providers do business. Just ask Apple or Nike, which have taken flak for the conditions of workers in thirdparty factories in Asia.
MTN is working closely with suppliers and vendors in markets such as Nigeria and Uganda to adopt sustainable practices, including using ecofriendly packaging and reducing waste in logistics operations.
In addition to investor influence, there is a shifting tide among consumers, who want to know that the businesses they engage with are ethical and responsible corporate citizens.
“MTN is providing biodegradable SIM cards in four markets, in an effort to tackle plastic waste pollution, with an estimated 180-million of these cards bought by consumers across the industry each year,” says Morafo.
The company launched its eco-friendly SIM cards in South Africa in December 2024.
Raw materials used in the production of the SIM cards are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), meaning they come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic bene-
group chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer
fits. The FSC is a global organisation dedicated to promoting responsible forest management.
Unlike traditional plastic SIM cards, which do not decompose, MTN’s biodegradable SIM cards will degrade within three to six months after being discarded.
Such initiatives while serving communities, saving the environment and making MTN’s operations more efficient mean the group can also contribute to furthering certain national and international policy agendas.
As Morafo notes, MTN’ s sustainability strategy “ emphasises supporting Africa’ s transition to a low-carbon economy, aligning with the Paris Agreement. Our commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2040 is supported by a range of impactful initiatives.”
MTN has transitioned 15% of its South African sites to solar power, reducing emissions and energy costs, since 2023.
“Similar initiatives in Ghana and other markets are paving the way for widespread adoption of renewable energy across our network,” she says.
In Uganda, the company is piloting biofuel generators to reduce reliance on diesel, Morafo says. These efforts have led to a 13.1% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across the group’s markets in 2023.
To stay on top of its mission, MTN refined its sustainability approach in 2024 to focus on four strategic pillars: digital inclusion; environmental stewardship; economic empowerment; and governance and leadership.
On digital inclusion, falling under SDG 4 on quality education, MTN has been equipping thousands of young people across Africa with critical digital skills. For instance, in Ghana, more than 15,000 students have been trained in fields such as data science and app development. And in Rwanda, Morafo says, “ our smart classrooms initiative has provided more than 100,000 students with access to digital learning tools, bridging educational gaps in rural areas ”.MTN’s digital literacy programme runs in 10 markets. Where economic empowerment is concerned, MTN is using platforms like its Mobile Money (MoMo) service to drive financial inclusion for small businesses in countries such as Ivory Coast and Cameroon, enabling secure and cashless transactions for more than 61.5million users.
This forms part of SDG
Nompilo Morafo,
8, which focuses on decent work and economic growth, and has boosted economic participation, particularly for women entrepreneurs, who now account for 45% of MoMo merchants in key markets.
A discussion around sustainability in the corporate sector is incomplete without mentioning corporate social investment. In this vein, MTN
invested more than R195m in community programmes across its markets in 2023, through initiatives spanning education, health care and entrepreneurship.
Key to MTN’s work is its partnership approach: it actively engages stakeholders including nation states hosts across its markets to achieve a more prosperous Africa to-
gether. Upholding digital human rights is also central. Beyond connectivity, MTN's commitment emphasises online safety, privacy, freedom of expression and responsible AI.
Overall, MTN has crafted a strategy and way of operating that ensure that its impact is built in. More corporate players need to take responsibility for the places where they operate
Thriving on the cusp of technology innovation
The global telecoms company that began as a small local business in 1994 now plans to use ‘base stations in the sky’
● Africa’s biggest mobile operator by subscribers is on a drive to stay at the cutting edge of technology.
“As the company is celebrating 30 years of existence
this year, we need to take into account that MTN has significantly affected Africa’s telecommunications landscape, after its beginning in 1994 as a small South African start-up with [about] 10 employees,” says the group’s chief technology and information officer, Mazen Mroué.
“We have evolved into a global telecommunications player and now have more than 17,000 people across different
markets. In most of our markets, we started from zero; now we have 90%-plus population coverage.” Connectivity and making sure each of its customers is within reach of a signal that enables them to make calls, text or use the internet is central to Mroué’s role. Understandably, considering the 288-million customers, a company of MTN’s size needs all the coverage it can muster.
and the communities they serve. “Through these targeted efforts, MTN is unlocking opportunities, enabling inclusive growth and ensuring that noone is left behind in Africa’ s economic transformation,” Morafo says.
Perhaps a reframing of a more inclusive and altruistic form of capitalism is possible after all. x
With that in mind, it makes sense that the technology chief is casting his mind to a future in which satellite technology will be a mainstay of how people communicate.
“Ten, 15 years from now, I think there will be more and more base stations that are hosted in the air, in space. That’s where we will be in the future,” Mroué predicts.
For MTN, the technology makes sense in areas where
Mudiwa Gavaza
normal terrestrial, mobile and fibre services are now a headache to deploy.
Despite notable improvements in the past decade, internet connectivity in rural areas and outside big centres remains limited, as it is costly to build networking infrastructure in underserved areas.
Global telecoms body the Global System for Mobile Communications Association says the coverage gap in Sub-Saharan Africa has narrowed from 50% in 2014 to 17% in 2022.
For MTN, closing gaps in its own network has the biggest strategic value.
In recent years, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites have grown in favour as a way to plug these gaps, with Elon Musk’s Starlink the best known such service in the world.
Mroué, who has been with MTN since 1998, explains that one big reason for the growth in LEO satellite use is the cost. Transporting equipment to space is now much cheaper than it was decades ago, in part because space rockets are now more reusable as shown by another Musk company, SpaceX.
“The LEO satellite technology is not new. It has been there for a long time. What has happened lately is that this technology became much more visible and work has been done to reduce the cost of transporting it to space.
“This is how LEO satellites became more financially viable, with economies of scale to be used far more effectively,” Mroué explains.
In terms of connectivity, the two disadvantages of traditional satellite technology have to do with latency (the time it takes for signals to reach their destination) and limited bandwidth (the amount of data that can travel through a signal). Fibre and mobile are therefore seen as superior forms of access.
Low-altitude satellites improve on this, offering faster speeds, mainly because the satellites are closer to the ground. By sending a large number of these into the sky, creating a constellation, operators have been able to cover the main challenges associated with satellite technology. Because of these advancements, operators predict that some functions of ground base stations and cellphone towers will be taken into the sky.
While the individual satellite costs have dropped, creating a network in the sky is still very expensive. Launching a traditional high-altitude satellite is estimated to cost $500m. To launch a network of low-altitude satellites, such as Starlink or OneWeb, costs about $5bn.
“At this stage, the position we have taken at MTN is to pursue a partnership model with all or some satellite players, and we are making good progress in that regard,” says Mroué.
The group has agreements in place with satellite providers such as AST SpaceMobile, Lynk Global, Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb.
The MTN veteran says the group has structured its partnerships into two parts around LEO satellites.
“One part is about the fixed connectivity. This means opportunities for us to leverage the satellite technology to support our business and customer demands”— in essence leveraging satellites to expand access to fixed
connectivity.
In addition, the company has started using the technology as a backhauling solution across its different markets.
In telecoms, backhaul is the infrastructure that connects a network’s core to its smaller networks or to local ones.
“Traditionally, we’ve been using solutions like microwave to connect our different base stations, but lately we started investing in fibre, whether offshore or onshore, to complete the backhauling,” Mroué says.
“Now, with the evolution of this technology, we found that, specifically in rural areas, [it
works] to connect our onground systems with satellites as a backhauling solution.
“We are already seeing some good results.”
For example, in Nigeria MTN is using satellites to broaden coverage in rural areas.
The second part of the partnership structure “relates to how to use the technology for direct to device communication. There is an opportunity to connect the end user device through satellite.”
Overall, Mroué considers MTN to have done well in terms of population coverage in its markets.
“On average we cover 80% of the population in most of the markets. However, geographical coverage is still on average 50%. That means 50% of the territories where we are operating in are not yet covered.” These are the gaps that Mroué hopes to make up for using the “base stations in the sky” Elsewhere in the ecosystem, MTN continues to explore various deals and initiatives to give it an edge technologically.
In November the ORAN Development Co (ODC) announced a strategic partnership with MTN to develop and test innovative open radio access network (ORAN) solutions tailored for the “unique requirements of networks across Africa” Conceptually, ORAN is a new approach to building the mobile networks that connect devices to the internet
MTN’s chief technology and information officer, Mazen Mroué
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and other users. This is an evolution of the traditional approach, which requires operators to work with a single supplier for an entire mobile site.
This collaboration is in line with MTN’s push to provide affordable, high-quality telecoms throughout Africa, with advanced ORAN technologies “enabling greater network flexibility”
Mroué says: “We at MTN are always open to new technology developments that can help to expand our reach in terms of coverage, improve customer experience and optimise the overall cost of production and the cost of capital.”
ODC is headquartered in Virginia in the US and has development teams in the UK and India.
Beyond the group’s ambitions to stay ahead of rivals, Mroué sees MTN’s technological prowess as having af-
At this stage, the position we have taken ... is to pursue a partnership model with all or some satellite players, and we are making good progress in that regard
fected the lives of many over its three decades.
“We started from zero market share, zero customer base, to millions of customers. We started from nothing in terms of people using mobile devices to access financial services. Now we have a significant number of people transacting and executing many of their own financial applications online,” he says.
“Without forgetting about the many accomplishments of MTN during the past 30 years, a significant impact, for example, is the 21 days of Y’ello Care campaign, in which all the
employees of the company are involved, on an annual basis, in running initiatives that can have a social impact on communities.”
For Mroué, rolling out different technologies and bringing together different partners, and the ecosystem that has been built around MTN in its markets and for partners and agents, are significant.
“Yes, we started, we maintained, but we remained relevant for the future,” he says.
He says the legacy of the JSE-listed group is counted not only by the number of people using its services. “You also
have to consider the number of people whose lives, whether professional or personal, have been affected by the leadership role played by MTN.
“You need to also take into account the thousands of people who have been employed by MTN and are now playing leadership roles in other industries and other areas, whether at the government level or at the corporate level, in Africa and abroad.”
In addition, Mroué is proud that MTN has been an “ academy” for developing skills and knowledge, and transferring that to other industries.
“You can see that many of the people who are holding leadership roles in other industries, including banks, governments and other areas, had the opportunity to be exposed to the MTN environment and benefit from MTN investments,” he says. x
Mazen Mroué
The strategy guru
Chika Ekeji is the leading light in MTN’s relentless commitment to anticipating trends and diversifying into the new worlds of mobile tech
Mudiwa Gavaza
● How does Africa’s largest mobile operator grow bigger than it already is and ensure its viability for the next few decades?
This is the central question that Chika Ekeji and his team at MTN are seeking to answer.
The group’s chief strategy and transformation officer says: “Standing at point X, it’ s our responsibility to help the company get to a destination. What this role entails is exploring the plausible paths towards a universe of plausible outcomes and then helping, with the aid of facts and some sharp analysis, the organisation to go down a path that is reasonable towards the most ideal of those outcomes.”
Founded in 1994 as M-Cell, MTN has grown to be one of the biggest mobile operators in the world and is now the largest on the continent, with 288-million customers.
“In essence, we try to look into the future and [plot] what is possible for this organisation and where it should go then try to chart a path that takes us there. And support the execution on that particular path,” says Ekeji.
He makes it sound straightforward, but when the rubber hits the road, being an emerging-market telecoms provider is never going to be plain sailing.
From regulatory scrapes and stiff competition to volatile currencies, macroeconomic turbulence and struggling consumers, many challenges
beset the sector.
Add to that a stereotype that large organisations move slowly and always bring up the rear when it comes to innovation.
Staying on top of the trends that inform strategy is imperative.
“Getting smart on how you do that involves lots of exposure to content, immersion in the industry and your peer groups around the world, making sure you stay abreast of that,” says Ekeji.
“Also creating feedback loops so that you hear what the feedback is from reality meeting fantasy.”
He says it’s about having “ a global landscape of inside sources, the right internal and external partners [and] various third parties that all coalesce within our heads”
MTN’s strategy is based on its Ambition 2025 framework, announced to the market in 2019. It includes reducing debt, exiting operations in troublesome countries, growing new areas of business, selling noncore assets and unlocking value by separating out certain business units.
A big part of the plan is moving from being a traditional telecoms company to being a technology company.
According to Ekeji, it is important to look at the shift through two lenses internal and external.
It’s an approach that “allows us to deliver voice, data and experiences in a
MTN chief strategy and transformation officer Chika Ekeji
more seamless way”
He says: “The more external-facing aspect of this has to do with what we do. The traditional telecommunications player provided voice services; then data came along. Now we have a range of digital service offerings, like entertainment.”
And financial services are “ a material aspect of our business and infrastructure, an increasing focus”
Diversifying the product range beyond the basic telecoms offerings is essential.
“We need to begin to engage customers more across all as-
pects of their lives, delight them more in areas that are parallel to the traditional business that we do,” says Ekeji.
Around the world, telecoms providers have grappled with how to offer more services that complement their core connectivity offering.
An example is Comcast’ s 2011 acquisition of NBC Universal, which allowed the combined $30bn group to grow by offering bundled phone, internet and television packages.
Four years later AT&T followed a similar route in buying satellite TV service DirecTV for $49bn. But businesses such as DirecTV were later eclipsed by streaming services, and last year AT&T sold its stake.
Japan’s Nippon Telegraph & Telephone, owner of what used to be Dimension Data, has expanded into IT services, while British Telecom also has broadcast operations.
In Africa, MTN, Airtel, Vodacom, Econet and others have ventured deep into financial services territory through mobile wallets.
“Fintech is not just about the fintech or money transfer. It’s about all the things that we want to do behind the scenes and alongside that. What we call the advanced services that really deliver against helping the commercial experience,” Ekeji says.
Having started with simple mobile payments, MTN now offers airtime lending, personal loans, small business loans, in-
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surance and virtual cards.
Keeping abreast of trends not only in fintech but more broadly in macroeconomics, geopolitics and general tech is a major part of Ekeji’s role.
“On the microeconomic side, we keep a fairly sharp eye on the foundational drivers of our business alongside a number of the broader developments, like population growth, urbanisation and the youth dividend in Africa, which is evolving.”
MTN also looks at what experts say about the geopolitical landscape. Where will there be tensions? Which governments are likely to have policies in place that will boost their economies? What is the growth outlook in the countries where MTN has a presence? What will happen to inflation in key markets, and how will exchange rates shift?
“These are all material things that affect business at the scale that we do it, so those are some of the things we keep
up with,” Ekeji says.
Then there’s the matter of technology. MTN is after all a tech company.
“There’s AI but cloud is also important. Then there’s 5G, and in our industry there is an emerging conversation around 6G. We monitor IoT [internet of things] development and what’s happening in that space as well. Those are important things that we pay attention to.
”
Ekeji and his team are also keeping an eye on developments in quantum computing.
An important focus is
We need to begin to engage customers more across all aspects of their lives, delight them more in areas that are parallel to the traditional business that we do
Chika Ekeji
customer experience how customers feel about their interactions with a product, service, platform or company. It encompasses every touchpoint or interaction a customer has with an offering, from the initial awareness and purchase to ongoing use and support.
Consumer preferences have changed, Ekeji notes. “The expectation is changing ... What is the standard and the emerging bar you have to meet when it comes to customer experience? And what are you benchmarked against?”
Customers want “technology that just works”, he says.
“If we think about the bar against which the customer experience for onboarding, servicing or usage management will be judged It will be against the seamless experience you have on Facebook, WhatsApp and any of the other social media channels, because that drives a lot of customer expectation around seamlessness.”
AI is changing the way people interact with service providers.
“We are now entering a universe where you just talk to your phone. Before, you had to have structured statements you made to a chatbot. But now we want to have a natural language conversation.”
These are just some of the things that MTN is working on and keeping up with to stay relevant and ahead of its competition. Being in business for 30 years is certainly an achievement, especially considering the number of telecoms operators that have crashed and burnt in that time. Like any other business looking to stamp its mark on history, MTN wants to still be thriving 30 years from now.
Ekeji sums up MTN’s first three decades in one word: “Impact.” x
Sales: Anastacia Martin
Cover image: 123RF
From 64 kilobits To 1 Gig per second
30 Years of Progress
