MTN Group has finalized the sale of its operations in Guinea to the government, marking its strategic exit from the market.
In a statement, MTN noted that the deal which was concluded on December 30, 2024, aligns with its Ambition 2025 strategy, which emphasizes portfolio optimization and simplification.
The decision to divest from Guinea follows MTN’s comprehensive evaluation of its regional operations and long-term growth objectives.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
Commenting on the exit, Ralph Mupita, President and CEO of MTN Group, highlighted that the move will allow the company to concentrate its resources on markets with higher growth potential and sustainable impact.
In his words,
“This milestone marks a new phase for MTN Guinea-Conakry under local ownership, and MTN thanks the staff, customers, regulators and broader stakeholders in Guinea for the support during the time MTN has been operational in the country. Concluding this transaction is in line with the strategy to simplify the portfolio and allocating capital to markets where we can make a difference as MTN and deliver long-term growth and returns.”
MTN sale of its subsidiary in Guinea comes after the company in August 2024 announced it received regulatory approval to sell its Guinea-Bissau unit to Telecel Group as the operator pushes on with its plan to focus on core markets in Africa.
MTN accepted Telecel’s offer for Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conarky in December 2023, highlighting how the units were contributing little to the group bottom line. In Guinea-Bissau, MTN recorded 830,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2024, a decline year-on-year decline from 871,000. Revenue in Q1 from the unit was ZAR94 million (US$5.1 million) up from ZAR73 million.
Notably, MTN has been grappling with revenue shortfalls in 2024 and is currently prioritising operations in key West and Central African countries, which together contribute a significant percent to the group’s revenue.
In Nigeria, MTN net losses grew by more than 3335% year on year to N514.928 billion, details from the telecommunication company’s unaudited financial statement revealed, from N14.984 billion in the comparable period in 2023. The company’s financial performance has been impacted by record-high inflation and the naira’s devaluation, worsening businesses’ operational expenses.
Its unaudited financial statement for 9M-2024 showed that total revenue surged by 33.7% year on year to N2.370 trillion from restated amount of N1.772 trillion in the comparable period in 2023. This was supported by growth in voice, data, digital, fintechs and other services revenue in the period. MTN Nigeria however charted its path back to profitability after three successive quarters of loss. The telco declared a profit after tax of N4.13 billion in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024.
MTN’s revised strategy, Ambition 2025, is anchored in building the largest and most valuable platform business with a clear focus on Africa. This will rest on a scale connectivily and infrastructure business, making use of both mobile and fixed access networks across the consumer, enterprise and wholesale segments.
The implementation of this growth strategy will be accelerated through selective partnerships and leveraging MTN’s brand as the most trusted and valued in Africa, while it will be supported and Funded through enhanced cost and capex efficiencies. The execution of Ambition 2025 is embodied in four clear strategic priorities.