Ralph Mupita, MTN Group president and CEO.

MTN Group Limited has sold its business in Guinea (known as "MTN Guinea-Conakry") to the State of Guinea, effective December 30, 2024.

This deal is consistent with MTN's focus on portfolio optimisation and simplification as part of the Ambition 2025 plan, the telco said.

The latest development comes as a surprise as the telco announced on August 7 2024 that it had completed the sale of its smaller West African subsidiary Spacetel Guinea-Bissau S.A. (MTN Guinea-Bissau to Telecel Group Mobile Limited.

Yesterday, MTN Group President and CEO, Ralph Mupita, announced the new development: “This milestone marks a new phase for MTN Guinea-Conakry under local ownership. We thank the staff, customers, regulators, and broader stakeholders in Guinea for their support during our time in the country.

"Concluding this transaction is in line with our strategy to simplify our portfolio and allocate capital to markets where we can make a meaningful impact, ensuring long-term growth and returns.”

The closing of the sale comes after Mupita informed shareholders and markets in April that the telco's objective was to "streamline and restructure" its portfolio.

At the time, he said that the business had completed the sale of MTN Afghanistan, which marked the end of the group's exit from its Middle East companies.

Mupita went on to say: "We also accepted an unsolicited offer, subject to conditions precedent, including regulatory approvals for MTN's equity interests in MTN Guinea-Bissau and MTN Guinea-Conakry."

Yesterday, MTN Group announced it has completed the sale of MTN Guinea-Bissau.

The development comes as Africa's largest mobile provider is reportedly in talks to facilitate MTN's seamless exit from three other African countries in its West and Central Africa portfolio.

According to the telco's reports, MTN is facing a number of issues in West and Central Africa, and leaving some of the countries is becoming a viable option, according to some senior officials.

MTN is Africa's largest mobile network operator with 288m customers in 18 markets across Africa.