By Desire Emmanuel, with Agency Reports
South African telecoms giant, MTN, said on Monday, November 17, that its service revenue for the nine months (January to September) rose by 25.9 per cent, driven by strong performances in Nigeria and Ghana, Reuters News Agency reported.
Africa’s biggest telecom operator, which has more than 300 million customers in 16 markets across the continent, said that excluding the effect of currency fluctuations, group service revenue increased by 22.6 per cent.
MTN Nigeria led growth with a 57.1 per cent rise in service revenue while MTN Ghana rose 35.9 per cent, supported by lower inflation and more stable exchange rates.
However, MTN South Africa saw a slower growth of two per cent as gains in post-paid and enterprise were offset by continued pressure in a highly competitive prepaid market.
Data revenue increased by 40 per cent, driven by an expansion of active data subscribers and strong demand, MTN said, while Fintech revenue rose 35.7 per cent.
MTN added that 27.9 billion rand ($1.63 billion) in capital expenditure to help expand its commercial business had helped drive growth in data traffic and fintech transactions.
The telecoms giant stated that it plans to expand its AI-powered digital inclusion initiative with Microsoft (MSFT.O) across Africa in early 2026.
