Amid strong reaction from the South African telecommunications market to news that MTN has walked away from acquisition negotiations with Telkom, the mobile network operator has hosted diplomats from across 18 markets at its Fairland headquarters – and used the opportunity to underline the importance of collaboration to boost economic recovery across Africa.

MTN and Telkom grabbed headlines this week after having informed shareholders that discussions regarding the proposed transaction had terminated.

ITWeb reported that Telkom had cautioned investors that it was not in a position to provide MTN with assurances around exclusivity.

The situation seems not to have distracted MTN from efforts to strengthen relations with governments in key regions in which it operates on the continent, specifically around economic growth and job creation.

MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita, said, “One of our four strategic priorities is to ‘create shared value’ and regularly engaging with our key stakeholders is essential for us to deliver on this priority.”

“Just as Africa was starting to recover from the devastating impacts of the pandemic, we faced the local repercussions of the war in Ukraine. At MTN we take seriously our responsibility to assist our markets as best we can, and the tools of the digital economy can no doubt help accelerate recovery and growth.”

At the event, MTN eSwatini was announced as the winner of this year’s 21 Days of Y’ello Care employee volunteerism programme, which aims to secure strong participation by staff in high-impact social projects in their local communities.

Launched in 2007, the annual campaign allows MTNers to give of their time and resources to support those around them. In 2022, Y’ello Care was themed ‘Empowering Communities to Drive Economic Recovery and Job Creation’. More than 3 500 MTN staff volunteered, impacting over 7 800 people directly and some 23 700 indirectly.

As the winner, MTN eSwatini claimed US$100 000 from MTN Group to plough back into future community projects.

MTN Cameroon was declared the winner in MTN’s West and Central Africa region and MTN Uganda won in the Southern and East Africa region. They each received US$30 000 to use in future community projects. The ‘Innovation Award’ went to MTN Nigeria, while MTN Ghana and MTN Uganda shared the ‘Integrity Award’. MTN Zambia won the ‘Most Improved Award’.

MTN Group is Africa’s largest network operator and says it has a subscriber base of 282 million.