MTN Group is intensifying its connectivity projects expanding into previously underserved remote and rural areas.
Africa’s largest telco today released its first quarter (Q1) results, with Ralph Mupita, Group CEO and president revealing that the company has made “meaningful strides” with some of its strategic priorities, including the connectivity business.
He said MTN entered into agreements to share network infrastructure in Uganda and Nigeria, while ensuring compliance with local regulatory and statutory requirements.
“These sharing agreements target improved network cost efficiencies, expanded coverage and the provision of enhanced mobile services to millions of customers, particularly those in remote and rural areas,” Mupita said.
In this regard, he went on to say: “We are also strengthening our partnerships with low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite providers, including Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb, AST & Science and Lynk, to efficiently expand services to enterprises and our communities.
“This aligns with our commitment to deepen digital inclusion in the markets we serve, as well as enable their socio-economic development.”
This comes after Mupita’s recent interview with ITWeb in which said LEO satellites are here to stay and MTN is embracing them as part of technologies that keep people connected.
Also, research firm, GlobalData, recently noted that in response intensifying competition from Starlink, African telcos are pivoting to underserved regions to maintain their market position and tap into new growth opportunities.
Performance by the group
In terms of group performance in the period under review, Mupita said: “MTN reported a robust performance for Q1 2025, anchored in the continued strong execution of our strategic and operational priorities, and buoyed by improved macroeconomic conditions in key markets.
“We invested $410 million (R7.5bn) (ex-leases) of capex in our networks and platforms in support of our commercial initiatives, to sustain the encouraging strong growth in our business.”
He continued: “We are pleased with strong momentum in our business, with growth in data traffic of 30.4% (43.3% excluding JVs) and a 13.9% increase in fintech transaction volumes in Q1 2025. Our total subscriber base expanded by 4.7% to 296.8 million.
“The group delivered a 19.8% increase in service revenue, led by acceleration in MTN Nigeria (up 40.4 %) and MTN Ghana (up 39.5 %).
“MTN South Africa (SA) continued to navigate competitive challenges, most notably in prepaid, with service revenue up by 2.6%, while MTN Uganda’s service revenue of 13.5% was impacted by MTR reductions. MTN Sudan continues to operate in conflict conditions, but saw a more than four-fold increase in service revenue from a depressed base.
“Data was once again a key driver of group growth, with revenue up by 28.7% in Q1, driven by continued structural demand for data and active data subscriber growth of 9.1% to 161.7 million."
The new cash cow
Regarding performance of MTN Group's new cash cow, fintech, Mupita said: “In our fintech business, MoMo MAU (monthly active users) increased by 1.1% to 62.2 million, as we continue to reduce incentives to drive a healthier customer base and increase profitability in markets like South Africa and Nigeria.
“In this regard, we are pleased with the improved quality of our user base, reflected in improved engagement and monetisation. Fintech revenue increased by 25.2% in Q1 2025, reflecting continued strong expansion in advanced services, which grew revenue by 36.5%.”
He went to say: “Group EBITDA was 33% higher, reflecting a 5.3pp improvement in margin to 44.1% (Q1 2024: 38.8%) – this reflected the strong service revenue growth, improved stability in the macroeconomic environment and lower device cost of sales in MTN SA.”
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