Inside Ralph Mupita’s plan to get MTN back on top An increase in data usage during the pandemic helped telecoms operators regain their flavour-of-the-month status. MTN is now selling unneeded assets, getting out of the Middle East, cutting its debt, building digital platforms and boosting growth in ‘connected services’. It’s all about creating value BL PREMIUM 03 June 2021 - 05:00 Mudiwa Gavaza
MTN is changing. And it may just be time for investors to look at the group through a different, more forgiving lens. The trajectory of the company, now chaired by former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas, correlates perfectly with SA’s democracy: it launched in 1994, at a time when even the optimists believed there was scope for 400,000 cellphones in SA, and listed on the JSE the next year.
Pan-African operator MTN may have a second look at bidding for a mobile operator license in Ethiopia, despite being taken out of contention for apparently underbidding first time round, according to comments made recently by its chief executive.
MTN sets its sights on Ethiopia again
By Dineo Faku
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AFRICAâS largest telecoms firm, MTN, was considering having another go at becoming a mobile operator in Ethiopia after losing to Kenyaâs Safaricom over a week ago, the group said on Friday.
Ethiopiaâs communications regulator awarded Safaricom, a member of a consortium led by Vodafone, the parent company of Vodacom, MTNâs rival, with a licence to operate telecom services in Ethiopia, Africaâs second-most populous country.
MTN chief executive Ralph Mupita told shareholders during the companyâs 26th annual general meeting (AGM) held virtually on Friday that MTN would apply its mind should the Ethiopian government reissue the licence.
Having launched a “world-first” to buy airtime through WhatsApp in 2019, Africa’s largest cellular operator, MTN, has launched a way to make instant bank transfers through the Facebook-owned app, an “industry-first” in South Africa,