MTN Group reported a US$506 million loss, attributing it to the challenges posed by currency devaluation in Nigeria and the civil war in Sudan. The group’s service revenue dropped 20.8% to US$4,7 billion for the six months ending June 30.
MTN’s CEO, Ralph Mupita, mentioned that the continued devaluation of the Nigerian naira against the US dollar and the civil war in Sudan significantly impacted the company’s operations. The devaluation of the naira by the Nigerian central bank in an attempt to stabilize the economy, as well as ongoing conflicts in Sudan, has led to disruptions in network availability and revenue generation.
Despite these challenges, the total number of subscribers increased to 288 million, with 150.2 million active subscribers. However, growth was affected by SIM registration regulation in Ghana and Nigeria, as well as a decline in Sudan due to the conflict. On the positive side, there was an increase in demand for services, with data traffic growing by 35.7% to 9,045 petabytes. Additionally, the number of active mobile money subscribers grew by 9.1% to 66 million, and fintech transactions increased by 18% to 9.7 billion.
Looking ahead, MTN aims to execute a five-point strategy to restore profitability in Nigeria, including seeking permission to raise tariff prices. As part of its restructuring plans, the group recently concluded the sale of its Guinea-Bissau unit.
