MTN Group is considering divesting some of its smaller operations in West Africa, according to people familiar with the situation. MTN Group is considering divesting some of its smaller operations in West Africa as its focuses on core markets, people familiar with the matter said.
Africa’s biggest mobile phone company is currently reviewing its portfolio in the region to identify potential disposal candidates, according to the people. MTN’s assets in Nigeria and Ghana, its largest West African markets, do not form part of the review, they said.
Group CEO of MTN, Rob Shutter
Deliberations are in the early stages and there’s no certainty they’ll result in divestments, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
A spokesman for MTN said the company would communicate any firm intentions to dispose of assets publicly to its stakeholders, declining to comment further.
Johannesburg-based MTN, which has a presence in West African countries including Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Liberia, has been narrowing its focus on its home continent and beyond since 2020.
Last month it sold its Afghanistan business to Beirut-based M1 New Ventures for US$35-million as part of plans to target more high-growth areas such as data sales and mobile money.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
MTN Group has announced the appointment of Riaan Wessels as Chief Risk Officer of Fintech with effect from 1 July 2022. Riaan has 13 years of experience at MTN. He first joined the company in 2004, as GM of Business Risk Management and returned in 2017 as Group Executive of Risk and Compliance.
“As Chief Risk Officer: Fintech, Riaan will continue to add immense value at MTN by effectively managing risk exposures to the business and ensuring robust processes and controls,” said Serigne Dioum, Group Chief Fintech Officer.
Riaan Wessels
Over the past 20 years, Riaan has implemented complex programmes at multinational companies in the technology and telecommunications industries. This includes leading large risk management, compliance and internal audit teams across operating environments in the Middle East and Africa.
Riaan holds a BComm Honours degree from the University of Free State in Accounting, Auditing, and Tax and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Leadership from GIBS.
He is also a Board member of MTN Rwanda and MTN Côte d’Ivoire as well as a Member and Chairman of the Board of MTN Guinea Conakry.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Paul Edwards, a former CEO of MTN Group, has secured a series-A funding round for his new venture, a fintech start-up called VantagePay.
VantagePay – formally Vantage Africa Limited – has secured the money from Crossfin Holdings, which has bought a “meaningful stake” in the company for an undisclosed sum.
Edwards is the founder and former chairman of Emerging Markets Payments (EMP), a pan-African and pan-Middle Eastern payment processor that he sold in 2016 to a company called Network International.
VantagePay was established in 2018 with a goal to provide payment and technology services across Africa. It’s headquartered in Mauritius, with offices in South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and London, and provides payments solutions to Ghanaian banks, telecommunications operators and fintechs.
With the Crossfin investment, the plan now is to “expand rapidly across the African continent”, said Crossfin CEO Dean Sparrow in a statement. Crossfin’s shareholders include the Ethos Mid-Market Fund and Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital.“Africa represents a huge market for mobile payments given the relatively high mobile phone penetration coupled with a relatively low penetration of financial services,” said Edwards in the statement. “VantagePay has incorporated the learnings of EMP and countries like China in developing a business model that enables cost-effective, deep penetration of payment services into African markets
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
MTN Group, with operations in 17 countries across Africa, has been ranked the number one African brand and among the top 10 brands on the continent in the annual Brand Africa 100 survey.
At a ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria to mark Africa Day over the week, Brand Africa said that MTN was the #1 African brand in both the spontaneous recall (where respondents are asked to name a brand across any category and region) and prompted recall (where respondents are guided to recall an African brand) rankings. This is the first time MTN has scooped both awards.
MTN Group bounced back to the Top 10 Brands in Africa taking the number one spot from Dangote Group. Dangote, the pre-eminent African brand founded in 1981 by Nigerian Aliko Dangote, emerged as the #1 brand that symbolises African pride in a question where Brand Africa sought to establish which brand in Africa is a flag carrier and embodiment of rising optimism and pride in Africa. South Africa, led by MTN, leads the African list, with Nigeria, led by Dangote, the overall #1 brand, at 28%, and Kenya with flag carrier, Kenya Airways, at 8% and Ethiopia, with its flag carrier brand, Ethiopian Airline at 4%.
Africa’s foremost brand monitoring platform, Brand Africa, has unveiled the 12th annual Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands 2022 rankings of the Top 100 most admired brands in Africa at a live event hosted by Brand Africa, at Eko Hotel & Suites, Lagos, Nigeria.
Against a backdrop of internal focus as a consequence of an urgent rebuilding of economies devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the acceleration of AfCFTA’s goal of driving greater intra-African trade, after a 5-year decline, African brands have surged 4% to 17% from an all-time low of 13% in 2020 and 2021 in the 2022 Brand Africa 100 | Africa’s Best Brands survey and ranking of the best brand in Africa.
Challenger brands such as South Africa’s lifestyle footwear brands, Bathu (#52) and Drip (#65), despite being primarily available in South African but accessible everywhere through e-commerce, massive growth in retail footprint in the middle of the pandemic and unmatched marketing and PR dollars, rocketed into the Top 100 as 17 brands exited, and heralded a notable return of African brands which once dominated the rankings as high as 34% when the rankings started in 2011.
Non-African brands, led by overall pace-setter Nike for the 5th consecutive year, continue to dominate with a share of 83% of the most admired brands in Africa.
In a separate list of the Top 25 most admired financial services brands, African brands dominate with 68% of the share to 32% for non-African brands.
DStv, through its brands across the continent, has consolidated its position as the #1 African media brand for the second year running, in a category that is fast going digital and mobile.
Recognising that while the rebound in African brands is notable, the results will not be sustainable without committed and inspirational leadership, in 2022, Brand Africa recognised those leaders who are the catalyst for growth for Made in Africa brands both in corporate and in those who have championed and supported the development of great local brands in supporting industries. GT Bank’s Group CEO, Segun Agbaje and Nigerian doyenne of marketing, founder and chairman of Troyka Group were awarded the inaugural Africa Brand Leadership Excellence awards for inspiring brand-led excellence that drives the growth of made in Africa brands.
“As we emerge out of the pandemic and Africa seeks to assert itself, the results are very inspiring and bode well of an African renaissance led by competitive world class African brands,” says Thebe Ikalafeng, Founder and Chairman of Brand Africa and Brand Leadership.
“With increased number of countries and greater sample size this year, more than ever, and especially so during the pandemic, mobile proved to be the effective tool for us to reach and access respondents across the continent,” said , Bernard Okasi, Director of Research, GeoPoll, which has been the lead data collection partner since 2015.
Karin Du Chenne, Chief Growth Officer Africa Middle East for Kantar, which has been the insight lead for Brand Africa since inception in 2010 says, “despite volumes of brands analysed as a results of increased sample size in terms of respondents and countries, the survey continues to yield a very consistent picture of brands and trends that are transforming the continent.”
Now in its 12th year, every year on or around Africa Day, 25 May, Brand Africa releases the results of the survey on the most admired brands in Africa based on a survey across 29 countries that represent as much as 85% of the continent’s GDP and population. The 2022 survey was conducted between March and April 2022 and yielded over 80,000 brand mentions and over 3,500 unique brands.
The Brand Africa 100 results will be published in the June issue African Business magazine which is on sale globally in June 2022 and will be available online to subscribers on www.africanbusinessmagazine.com.
The 2022 Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands were organised by Brand Africa partners in Nigeria, AT3 Resources and Open Squares Africa, and supported by the Central Bank of Nigeria, South African Tourism and NQR, Africa Media Agency and BCW Africa.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
MTN South Africa is aiming to reach 25% coverage of South Africa’s population with next-generation 5G infrastructure by the end of the year, and 60% by 2025.
This is according to the company’s CEO, Charles Molapisi, who was speaking on a conference call with investors on Friday following the conclusion of communications regulator Icasa’s auction of spectrum this week.
Ralph Mupita, the MTN Group President and Chief Executive
MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita, speaking on the same call, said the company is pleased with the outcome of the auction, saying the spectrum it acquired – at a cost of R5.2-billion – puts it in good stead to expand its 4G/LTE and 5G coverage across South Africa. MTN secured 100MHz of spectrum across three frequency bands:
20MHz in the 800MHz band
40MHz in the 2.6GHz band
40MHz in the 3.5GHz band
It secured the most frequency of all operators in the 3.5GHz band during the auction. This is seen as the “golden band” for the deployment of 5G services, Mupita said.
Meanwhile, Molapisi said that in the next few years, MTN will begin to decommission its 3G network, with 4G and 5G becoming the principal technologies used to deliver telecommunications services to its customers.
He said the company’s allocation of 3.5GHz – 40MHz in total – is sufficient to begin deploying robust 5G solutions to the market. Later, the company intends to work with smaller players that have access to 3.7GHz – also good for 5G technology – to supplement its coverage. But this is not needed for now, he added.
The MTN South Africa CEO said he doesn’t expect any acceleration to the company’s capital expenditure projections for the next three years as a result of the auction outcome. “Any capex acceleration will purely be based on commercial acceleration.”
The new frequency bands that MTN has access to will also allow the operator to become a stronger player in providing fixed-wireless services (in essence, wireless substitutes to fixed-line fibre) — an area where Telkom has historically been a stronger player. Using its new spectrum assets, MTN intends to compete more directly with Telkom in the home broadband market.
If Telkom is successful in its suit against Icasa, it may have to forfeit the spectrum it successfully bid for the auction.
One big concern that remains for MTN and other market players is that Icasa’s auction could still be set aside as the result of litigation brought by Telkom that is challenging the way the regulator approached the licensing process. The high court in Pretoria is set to hear the merits of Telkom’s arguments from 11-14 April.
Graham de Vries, MTN South Africa’s GM for regulatory affairs, said on the same call with investors that “serious discussions must now be happening internally at Telkom” following the conclusion of the spectrum auction.
Telkom, which participated in the auction, agreed to pay R2.2-billion for access to two frequency bands, 800MHz and 3.5GHz. If the company is successful in its suit against Icasa, it may have to forfeit the spectrum it successfully bid for the auction, which could harm its own interests, De Vries said.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Africa’s largest telecoms network, MTN Group is leveraging its expansive footprint across the continent to test and ultimately deploy OpenRAN – an innovative technology that will enable it to launch new services more quickly, cost-effectively and seamlessly, supporting future strategies in line with the company’s Ambition 2025: Leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress.
MTN Group CTIO Charles Molapisi.
The telco plans to modernise its radio access networks using OpenRAN. This is in line with one of five vital enablers of MTN’s strategy: to build technology platforms that the company believes are second to none, thereby allowing for the rapid expansion of 4G and 5G population coverage across its markets.
With up-to-date technology, MTN expects a reduction in its power consumption and associated carbon emissions. This, in turn, supports its plans to decarbonise its network and achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, MTN’s Project Zero.
OpenRAN allows for the disaggregation of hardware and software elements of a network, enabling telcos to build a network using components with the same specifications and scale from a diverse base of vendors. This disruptive trend is gaining popularity as the industry seeks to promote an open and interoperable ecosystem between various vendors.
MTN says it aims to roll this out by the end of 2021 in collaboration with its partners Altiostar, Mavenir, Parallel Wireless, TechMahindra and Voyage.
As an early adopter, MTN first rolled out open-source technology in 2019 to improve rural coverage. MTN says that this was in line with its belief that everyone deserves the benefits of modern connected life.
To date, MTN has deployed over 1100 commercial sites in more than 11 countries and were among the pioneers of open-source adoption, facilitating cost-effective deployment in unconnected areas.
For all mobile network operators, radio access network (RAN) make up the bulk of capital and operating costs. By applying OpenRAN, MTN targets further innovation and cost efficiencies.
“At MTN we are alive to the potential of open interfaces. There is a lot of value that dominant players bring to the business, but telecommunications today is as much about the stability of the network as it is about new services,” says MTN Group CTIO Charles Molapisi.
“Customers measure us against the speed with which we can deploy the latest technology and we are committed to finding faster and better ways to do that.”
The many benefits of OpenRAN include diversifying the vendor landscape, disrupting the cost flow, and removing dependencies on proprietary suppliers.
The new technology also promises cost savings and flexibility as it allows operators to use generic hardware and open interfaces. It enables a so-called ‘Lego architecture’ where many different vendors supply the components and software products that together make the end-to-end radio network work. By modernising the network, MTN hopes to reduce its power consumption and emissions in support of Project Zero.
“While OpenRAN brings a new architecture to mobile networks and more suppliers to deal with, it gives telcos much-needed flexibility,” says Amith Maharaj, MTN Group Executive: Network Planning and Design.
“This means that MTN can now look at building a network that can meet cost and capacity requirements of specific markets, or even rapidly deploy 5G and/or 4G seamlessly with existing legacy services. This is a real game-changer for mobile advancement in emerging markets.”
While the technology is still in its early days and widespread adoption is likely years away, MTN has already collaborated with a number of global players to reap the benefits and trigger innovation. In efforts to drive OpenRAN standardisation, MTN says it is also participating in Facebook’s Telecom Infra Project.
“Early adoption gives us the ability to improve and deploy appropriate network architecture underpinned by technology, both tried and tested, and disruptive, to ensure we continue to deliver an exceptional experience, and ultimately play our part in harnessing the power of technology to lead digital solutions for Africa’s progress,” concludes Molapisi.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The MTN subsidiary in Rwanda has listed on the Rwanda stock exchange. With this development, shareholders of Crystal Telecom became direct shareholders of MTN Rwanda with the listing of its shares on the Rwanda Stock Exchange, Kigali. A total of 1,350,886,600 ordinary shares were registered with the RSE at an initial listing price of Rwf269 per ordinary share. At the time of suspension of trading of CTL shares late last month, the price per share stood at Rwf190.
The total market capitalisation of MTN Rwanda (MTN Rwandacell Plc) is Rwf 363,388,495,400, making it one of the most valuable firms in the country.
Ralph Mupita, the MTN Group President and Chief Executive
With the listing, 20 percent of MTN Rwanda’s shares which were previously held by CTL are now directly held by the public, a total of 270,177,320 shares.
The rest of the shares will be held by MTN REL (Mauritius) Limited, 337,721,650 shares (25 per cent) and MTN International (Mauritius) Limited 742,987,630 (55 per cent). This means that the telco received a waiver from Capital Markets Authority and Rwanda Stock Exchange on the 25 per cent public holding requirement for listed companies.
Explaining why only 20 per cent will be available for the public, Ralph Mupita, the MTN Group President and Chief Executive said that it was among other things informed by previous experience listing in other markets as well as anticipated demand.
Mupita said that from their experience in previous listings in Ghana and Nigeria, the decision about the size of stake to avail for public trading was informed by demand patterns, need for capital and regulator engagement. The firm did not need to raise capital but rather enable CTL exit was among factors considered.
“When we came to Rwanda, which is our third listing, the company did not mean to raise additional capital but rather restructure CTL to allow direct ownership. In time to come, if there is sufficient demand or a requirement by the regulator, we will be open to go beyond 20 per cent,” he said.
“In Ghana, we went in with a desire to sell up to 30 per cent position from our 98 per cent position but when we did the IPO, we realized that there was only demand of about 12 percent. Out of that, close to 8 per cent was by international investors,” he added.
Celestin Rwabukumba the Chief Executive of the Rwanda Stock Exchange said that they explored multiple options before agreeing on the 20 per cent.
He said that while the local market has requirements for 25 per cent to be floated during listing, the boards of CMA and RSE have discretions to waivers depending on the need presented.
On having more than 20 per cent available for public trading, Rwabukumba noted that it would be based on capital market requirement, market demand among others.
“While I would want more (available for trading), I have to face realities and accommodate the needs of all parties, their (MTN ) interests have to come into consideration so that the shareholders and market benefit,” he said.
Going forward, MTN Rwanda Chief Executive Mitwa Ng’ambi said that they are keen on delivering value to shareholders and continued investments by further establishing our presence, expanding connectivity, driving digital inclusion among others.
Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Uzziel Ndagijimana said that listing is proof of confidence in the economy, future of capital markets and would serve to improve the local ecosystem.
He noted that the Rwandan economy is on a recovery path and is expected to grow by 5.1 per cent in 2021 and 7 per cent in 2022.
For dividend payout, MTN Rwandacell Plc will target a minimum dividend pay-out ratio of 50 percent of its distributable net income in the medium term, other than in 2021 where a pay-out ratio of at least 30 per cent will be targeted to take account of the renewal of the telco’s license.
MTN Rwanda registered an after-tax profit of Rwf20.2Bn in 2020 compared to Rwf6.81B in 2019, a growth of close to 200 per cent. The telco is projecting profit after tax of about Rwf23.7B in 2021.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
There are indications that Ethiopia has received two bids, from South Africa’s MTN and a consortium including Kenya’s Safaricom, for new telecoms operating licences. The Ministry of Finance made the announcement in the latest step in the Horn of Africa nation’s efforts to liberalise its economy. The country of 110 million people has one of the world’s last closed telecoms markets.
MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita
Vodafone, Vodacom, the United Kingdom’s CDC Group and Japan’s Sumitomo Corp are also part of the consortium, the finance ministry said in a post on Twitter announcing the two bids it had received. Brook Taye, a senior advisor at the finance ministry, said that it should not take more than a week for the winners of the licences to be announced.
“We will select the winners after technical and financial evaluation is completed,” Balcha Reba, director general of the Ethiopian Communications Authority, said at a news conference on Monday. The government may award one or two licences and has the right to cancel the bidding process, he added.
The licences will pave the way to open up Ethiopia’s telecoms industry, which is considered the big prize in the country’s push to liberalise the economy. The liberalisation will also involve the sale of a 45% stake in Ethio Telecom, which has said it also plans to launch mobile money transfer services.
“It seems companies like Orange and Etisalat are more interested in buying a stake in Ethio Telecoms,” Brook said, referring to the French and the United Arab Emirates mobile operators.
Kenya’s Safaricom said in a statement that “for structuring purposes, the respective consortium members may invest through special purpose investment vehicles”. The company estimated in 2019 that it would have to pay about $1 billion for a new licence.
Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub said the consortium had submitted a “strong tender”.
Ethiopia’s licencing process represents the last and largest telecom liberalisation opportunity in the world,” MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita was quoted as saying.
Sumitomo confirmed it had submitted the bid with the other companies, without providing further details. The bid winners will secure full operating licences, but they will not be allowed to operate mobile phone-based financial services, government officials said last year. They will also be required to set up their own network infrastructure, such as cellphone towers, they said.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Leading financial card firm Mastercard has joined forces with MTN to enable millions of MTN MoMo customers in 16 African countries to shop and pay online with global merchants. Through a Mastercard virtual payment solution linked to MTN MoMo (Mobile Money) wallets, consumers can now unlock a host of opportunities and shop from their favourite international brands online while in their home countries or travelling abroad.
MTN Group Chief Digital and Fintech Officer, Serigne Dioum
The announcement comes at a time when eCommerce and online shopping are reaching record levels across Africa. According to the Economy 2021 outlook conducted by the Mastercard Economics Institute, 20-30% of the COVID-19-related surge in eCommerce will remain a permanent feature of overall retail spending. And shopping through mobile is largely how consumers access these opportunities.
Across Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile devices are the primary channel used to connect to the internet. According to GSMA, by 2025, there will be 300 million more people using their devices to access internet services. In light of this significant growth, mobile financial services have become the dominant form of digital payments, with twice as many mobile money accounts as bank accounts in the region. As a result, consumers increasingly expect to have access to a broader range of online offers and digital financial services.
MTN hopes that through this strategic partnership, its customers with a Mastercard virtual payment solution linked to their MoMo wallets can shop on global platforms regardless of whether or not they have a bank account.
“We are very excited about this partnership with Mastercard, which is another step in realizing our ambition to build Africa’s largest fintech platform, accelerating economic and social development through digital innovations for the benefit of citizens across the continent and beyond,” says MTN Group Chief Digital and Fintech Officer, Serigne Dioum.
According to the Executive VP for Market Development at Mastercard MEA, Amnah Ajmal says, “This significant milestone will enable millions of MTN MoMo customers to benefit from global digital commerce, advancing consumer choice and driving digital and financial inclusion. This partnership shows that we can deliver innovative digital solutions that have a far-reaching impact and realize the true potential of inclusive growth across the continent, ultimately unlocking opportunities to improve economic possibilities for individuals and businesses.”
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
MTN Group has announced its plans to sell its 20% stake in Belgacom International Carrier Services SA (BICS) to Proximus NV/SA for approximately $122.4 Million (R1, 8 billion) which it will in turn deploy towards defraying its US dollar debt. BICS was classified as a non-current asset held for sale and this transaction has resulted in a remeasurement of its carrying value resulting in a reduction of R397 million for the year ended 31 December 2020. According to MTN, it will record a profit on disposal amounting to approximately R1,2 billion during the first half of 2021. The closing of the sale is dependent on customary regulatory approval.
Group CEO of MTN, Rob Shutter
In a separate development, MTN announced the launching of supersonic airfibre in South Africa. The product is said to overcome distance and a lack of infrastructure in urban, township and rural communities to bring fibre-quality connectivity to more households across the country. Supersonic AirFibre is expected to bring high-speed, inexpensive, and uncapped connectivity solutions to areas in which traditional fibre installations are not available. Built on unlicensed spectrum, the solution was designed, built and is maintained by MTN’s technology team to deliver a network quality that is in line with MTN’s standards, at affordable rates.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
