MTN Group, Africa's largest telecoms company, paid more than $2 billion (R57.2 billion) in taxes last year across its 16 markets on two continents.
This total included corporate taxes, indirect taxes, withholding taxes, payroll taxes, operating license fees, and other payments to government agencies.
MTN Group, which serves 290.9 million subscribers, yesterday released a set of its annual reports for 2024, including the Integrated Report, Sustainability Report, Transparency Report, Climate Report, Tax Report, and Remuneration Report.
The telco stated that the set of reports, produced under the theme 'Accelerating Africa's digital future,' provides a thorough overview of its robust underlying performance, strategic delivery, and contribution to society, as well as its priorities ahead.
MTN Group operates in South Africa, Nigeria; Southern and East Africa (SEA), West and Central Africa (WECA), and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
According to the company, these markets are controlled through strong operational and governance oversight mechanisms that serve as the foundation for the telco’s pan-African growth strategy.
MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita, commented: “Committed to operating responsibly and ethically, in 2024 MTN remained focused on executing on our strategic intent of leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress, despite the global uncertainties.”
He continued: “Our prospects and investment case are underpinned by the structural demand we see in data and fintech.
“As a business, we remain resolute in our commitment to accelerating Africa’s digital future and will maintain the focus on operational excellence and strategic execution to capture the exciting growth opportunities in our footprint. We thank our stakeholders for their ongoing support.”
Regarding the company's tax matters, Tsholofelo Molefe, MTN Group chief financial officer, said: “Apart from our networks and services, our tax contribution is key to our licence to operate as well as to our reputation as a responsible and compliant corporate citizen.
“We acknowledge the growing interest in our tax affairs that comes from many different stakeholders, whose trust in MTN we do not take for granted.
“By being transparent about our tax affairs through the publishing of this Tax Transparent Report, we aim to deepen that public trust, for which we remain grateful.”
According to her, this report reveals the company's overall economic impact across its markets, in addition to the corporate taxes it pays.
Molefe explained that the report also discusses the shifting tax environment in the world and in Africa, MTN's approach to tax and tax governance, and the Group's overall tax contribution by market, as well as the Group's effective tax rate.
Tax contributions by market and region during the period were: South Africa 10.2%, Nigeria 17.3%, SEA 17.1%, WECA 52.8%, and MENA 2.6%.
Molefe went on to say: “In 2024, our total tax contribution decreased by 14.59% to R52.7 billion, consisting of payments made by the MTN Group to all spheres of government.
“These taxes include corporate tax, indirect taxes, operating licence fees, payroll taxes, property rates, dividend taxes and withholding taxes.
“These represent significant contributions to the fiscus of the jurisdictions in which we operate: these funds are used to grow and enhance economic development in our various markets.”
She added: "Our total tax contribution declined in the year as a result of a reduction in our Group profitability, stemming mainly from the impact of a sharp depreciation in the currency of our major subsidiary MTN Nigeria and impairments to our operation in Sudan.
"The numbers show that our WECA region accounted for 52.8% of our independently assured total tax contribution in 2024. Our SEA region accounted for 10.2% and our MENA region made up 2.6% of our total tax contribution."
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