MTN Group
| File:MTN Group logo.svg MTN Group logo | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | January 1, 1994 Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Founder | South African government backing; co-founders include Robert (Bob) Chaphe and Leena Jaitley |
| Headquarters | Johannesburg , South Africa |
Area served | More than 20 countries in Africa and Asia (including Syria) |
Key people | Ralph Mupita (CEO), Mcebisi Jonas (Chairperson) |
| Products | Mobile network services, digital communication platforms, mobile money services, fibre internet services (via Supersonic) |
| Website | www |
MTN Group Limited—originally established as M-Cell—is a multinational telecommunications corporation based in Johannesburg, South Africa. It stands as one of the leading global mobile network operators and holds the distinction of being the largest across the African continent.
With operations spanning more than 20 countries, including Syria in Asia, MTN derives approximately one-third of its income from Nigeria. In 2016, it commanded an estimated 35% share of Nigeria's market and had amassed 289.1 million subscribers by December 2022.
MTN Group actively sponsors prominent sports teams such as the South African national rugby union squad, English football club Manchester United, and the Zambian Super League. Additionally, its Nigerian branch collaborates closely with the Nigerian Football Federation.
History
Founded in 1994 under the name M-Cell with backing from the South African government, the company underwent leadership changes in 1995 when Robert (Bob) Chaphe and co-founder Leena Jaitley succeeded then-CEO John Beck. By 2001, Johnnic Holdings had become the majority shareholder, appointing Irene Charnley as chairperson. The CEO role transitioned to Phuthuma Nhleko in 2002, following Paul Edwards, who had spearheaded expansion into Nigeria.
In South Africa, MTN faces competition primarily from Vodacom, Cell C, and Telkom Mobile.
In May 2008, Indian telecom firm Bharti Airtel explored acquiring MTN Group, while Reliance Communications also considered a potential merger; however, these discussions were discontinued by July 2008.
June 2008 saw MTN agreeing to acquire Verizon Business South Africa—a provider of data services operating within South Africa and four additional African nations—with the transaction concluding in February 2009.
On 26 June 2009, MTN’s subsidiary combined forces with Belgacom International Carrier Services (BICS), merging their international carrier operations.
In October 2012, a partnership was formed between MTN and Afrihost to deliver DSL broadband services throughout Africa. Later that year, Shanduka Group—a South African investment firm—purchased a $335 million minority stake in MTN Nigeria.
During 2014, MTN divested its tower assets in Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Zambia, and Rwanda to IHS Towers. That same year, it earned recognition among the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands and was honored as Africa’s Most Admired and Most Valuable Brand—a title it retained into 2015. In a subsequent deal in 2022, IHS Towers acquired MTN’s tower infrastructure in South Africa.
Rob Shuter was appointed CEO in March 2016; he was later succeeded by Ralph Mupita on 1 September 2020.
As part of its "Ambition 2025" strategy aimed at separating its fibre operations, MTN rebranded its subsidiary MTN GlobalConnect to Bayobab Fibre and Bayobab Communication in May 2023. After undersea cable disruptions on March 14, 2024 affected Africa Coast to Europe connectivity, Bayobab successfully restored full network functionality by repairing the ACE and WASC cables within one week.
MTN Ghana IPO
MTN Ghana initiated its initial public offering (IPO) on 31 May 2018, which concluded on 31 July 2019. Up to 4,637,394,533 ordinary shares—equivalent to a 35% stake in MTN Ghana—were made available to eligible investors. This offering was part of a commitment made to Ghana's National Communications Authority (NCA) in 2015 related to the rollout of 4G LTE services. Significantly, mobile money through MTN was introduced as a payment method for subscribing to the IPO—the first instance of mobile money usage in an IPO context. The current CEO of MTN Ghana is Mr. Selorm Adadevoh.
MTN Store Closures
On 23 February 2017, protesters in Nigeria targeted an MTN office located in Abuja as a response to violent incidents affecting Nigerians in South Africa.
In September 2019, due to riots, looting, and attacks fueled by xenophobic tensions, MTN shut down several outlets in Nigeria along with some locations in Johannesburg, South Africa. Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama emphasized that many of the South African stores targeted within Nigeria are actually subsidiaries owned and operated by Nigerians. Likewise, Nigeria's Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, highlighted the substantial Nigerian investments and employment generated by these enterprises.
Despite these disturbances, MTN reiterated its dedication to maintaining business operations within Nigeria.
Service Innovations
In March 2019, MTN launched a WhatsApp channel that allows customers to buy airtime and data bundles through the messaging platform. This service also enables users to check their balances and securely store credit or debit card details for subsequent purchases. The functionality is supported by the South African firm Clickatell.
During the same year, MTN introduced the digital communication platform ayoba, thereby broadening its portfolio of digital services.
Rebranding of Cyprus Operations
MTN divested its branch in Cyprus to Monaco Telecom for €260 million in July 2018. Subsequently, the business was rebranded as Epic in June 2019.
In December 2019, former South African Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas was named chairperson of MTN’s board.
Withdrawal from Middle Eastern Markets
In August 2020, MTN declared intentions to sell its holdings in Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen, as well as gradually divest its 49% minority stake in Irancell. This strategic retreat was influenced by these Middle Eastern assets contributing less than 4% to group earnings during the first half of 2020. The company completed its exit from Yemen by transferring an 82.8% majority stake in MTN Yemen to Emerald International Investment.
Divestment from Jumia
On 30 October 2020, MTN executed a strategic sale of its shares in the e-commerce platform Jumia for $142.31 million, marking a move away from non-core digital ventures.
Partnership with Mastercard
In February 2021, MTN collaborated with Mastercard to facilitate secure international e-commerce payments for customers across sixteen African nations. This partnership utilizes a Mastercard virtual payment system integrated with MTN’s MoMo (Mobile Money) wallets, enhancing cross-border digital payment capabilities.
Spin-off of Mobile Money Business
In March 2021, CEO Ralph Mupita announced plans to separate MTN’s mobile money division into an independent entity, recognizing fintech as a key growth area. By April, he estimated the mobile money unit’s value between US$5 billion and $6 billion, reflecting its strategic significance and potential for standalone development.
Technology
MTN South Africa provides a comprehensive suite of services including GSM, UMTS, HSPA+ (21.1 Mbit/s), HSUPA (42 Mbit/s at 2100 MHz), VOIP, 3G, 4G, LTE, and 5G. On 1 December 2011, MTN became the second operator in South Africa to launch commercial 4G and LTE services. It also pioneered the first publicly accessible live 5G network in Johannesburg and Cape Town on 30 June 2020.
Moving Beyond 2G and 3G Networks
As part of its technological advancement plan, MTN intends to gradually retire its outdated 2G and 3G infrastructures. In early 2025, the company introduced an initiative to distribute cost-effective (R99) 4G smartphones aimed at approximately 1.2 million prepaid users, facilitating this network evolution while enhancing access to faster mobile internet services.
Network Reach
MTN’s substantial growth was accelerated by acquiring Investcom, which operated mainly under the Areeba and Spacetel names.
By the second quarter of 2024, MTN maintained operations across several countries with a large customer base:
Supersonic
Founded in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2018 by MTN Group, Supersonic is an Internet service provider specializing in Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connectivity solutions and remains fully owned by MTN Group.
Supersonic delivers fibre internet services through partnerships with key providers such as Openserve and Vumatel. In February 2021, the company broadened its offerings by launching “Air Fibre,” a mobile data service utilizing 5G technology designed for urban areas within South Africa.
Despite these advancements, Supersonic was positioned near the bottom in customer satisfaction rankings among sixteen major ISPs in South Africa as of July 2021.
Sponsorship Activities
MTN Group has been a sponsor of the CAF Champions League football tournament and supported APOEL FC, champions of the Cypriot First Division in multiple years (2009, 2011, 2013, and 2014), who also competed in the UEFA Champions League seasons of 2009–10 and 2011–12.
On March 18, 2010, MTN secured a sponsorship agreement with English football club Manchester United F.C..
Since that year, MTN has served as the title sponsor for the Ghana FA Cup, which has been renamed the MTN FA Cup.
Starting in 2017, MTN became the main sponsor for the South Africa national rugby union team.
Through the MTN Foundation since 2013, over ₦2.5 billion has been granted in scholarships and financial aid to Nigerian students, including distributing ₦300,000 awards to more than one thousand students across two geopolitical zones as recently as October 2024.
Iran
MTN has encountered scrutiny regarding its involvement in Iran's telecom industry. The company owns a 49% share in the state-affiliated MTN Irancell, which ranks as Iran's second-largest mobile operator and represents 21% of MTN's overall subscriber count. In January 2012, the US-based advocacy organization United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on MTN to scale back its activities in Iran, accusing the company of enabling the Iranian government to monitor mobile phone users, thereby infringing on human rights.
In June 2012, reports surfaced suggesting that MTN might have assisted in acquiring US-origin telecommunications equipment from Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Cisco Systems for Irancell, potentially breaching US sanctions. Both Oracle (which acquired Sun Microsystems) and Hewlett-Packard denied any wrongdoing and confirmed their compliance with export regulations. MTN Group also refuted these claims, asserting full compliance with US sanction laws.
Turkcell court case
In 2012, Turkey's Turkcell initiated a $4.2 billion legal claim in Washington, D.C., accusing MTN Group of bribery aimed at obtaining a mobile license in Iran that was originally granted to Turkcell. The proceedings were postponed pending a US Supreme Court decision concerning the Alien Tort Statute, the human rights legislation supporting Turkcell's case. After an unfavorable Supreme Court ruling in May 2013, Turkcell withdrew its lawsuit in the US but later resumed legal action in Johannesburg during the same year.
Nigeria $5.2 billion fine
In 2015, MTN’s Nigerian branch was penalized with a $5.2 billion fine by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for not disconnecting 5.2 million SIM cards that were improperly registered, violating regulatory requirements. The penalty was calculated at $1,000 per unregistered SIM card under the Telephone Subscribers Regulation Act.
This sanction prompted major leadership shifts: CEO Sifiso Dabengwa, Nigeria Operations Head Michael Ikpoki, and Corporate Affairs Leader Akinwale Goodluck all stepped down. Their successors included Phuthuma Nhleko as chairman, Ferdi Moolman as managing director, and Amina Oyegbola as Head of Corporate and Regulation.
Under new management, MTN engaged in diplomatic negotiations with Nigerian regulators and the South African government, successfully reducing the fine to $3.2 billion, easing financial strain on MTN Nigeria.
South Africa
In September 2021, MTN discontinued zero-rated access to the social media platform Twitter. By early 2022, widespread internet connectivity disruptions affected MTN users throughout South Africa; however, the reasons behind these outages remained undetermined.
See also
External links
- Articles with short description
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- MTN Group
- Telecommunications companies of South Africa
- Internet service providers of South Africa
- Mobile phone companies of South Africa
- Multinational companies headquartered in South Africa
- Telecommunications companies established in 1994
- South African companies established in 1994
- Telecommunications companies of Afghanistan
- Telecommunications companies of Uganda
- Mobile phone companies of Afghanistan
- Mobile phone companies of Uganda
- Companies based in Johannesburg
- South African brands
- Companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
- Companies in the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index
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- Telecommunications in Nigeria