MTN Group’s service revenue grew by 17.5%, driven by strong performances in Ghana and Nigeria, despite weaker growth in South Africa, Asaase News reports.
MTN Group delivered strong revenue growth, improved profitability, and robust cash generation in the first half of 2026, with Ghana emerging as the best-performing major operation across the telecommunications group.
For the six months ended 30 June 2026, Group service revenue increased by 17.5% in constant-currency terms to R115.3 billion (approximately US$6.59 billion), while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization—EBITDA—rose by 24.4% to R56.0 billion (US$3.20 billion).
The Group’s constant-currency EBITDA margin increased by 3.1 percentage points to 47.6%, reflecting both stronger revenue growth and improved operating efficiencies across much of its African portfolio.
MTN’s customer base expanded by 6.7% to 317.7 million, with active data subscribers increasing by 9.1% to 179.3 million. Data traffic rose by 22.8%, helping data revenue grow by 29.2% in constant currency.
The group’s fintech business also maintained its growth trajectory. Mobile Money monthly active users increased by 12.1% to 70.8 million, transaction volumes rose by 17.2% to 13 billion, and the total value of transactions increased by 33.8% to US$330.5 billion.
Fintech revenue increased by 13.3% in constant currency, or 19.3% after excluding regulatory-related disruptions, with advanced financial-services revenue growing by 31.8%.
MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita attributed the results to disciplined execution, continued investment in networks and platforms, and the strength of MTN’s diversified African portfolio.
Nigeria remains MTN’s largest market
Nigeria remained the Group’s biggest operation by absolute revenue and earnings.
Service revenue increased by 25.7% to R35.3 billion (US$2.02 billion), accounting for 30.6% of Group service revenue. EBITDA rose by 38.7% to R19.9 billion (US$1.14 billion), representing 35.5% of Group EBITDA.
Nigeria’s EBITDA margin expanded by 5.3 percentage points to 55.9%.
The subscriber base increased by 8.9% to 92.2 million, following 7.5 million net additions. Active data subscribers rose by 9.3% to 55.7 million.
Data revenue grew by 38.2%, voice revenue by 11.8%, and digital revenue by 20.9%. Network data traffic increased by 25.8%, while average monthly usage rose to 14.8GB per subscriber.
Fintech revenue, however, declined by 8% following the temporary suspension of airtime and data-credit services. Excluding that disruption, Nigeria’s underlying mobile money business strengthened considerably: MoMo revenue increased by approximately 131%, and active wallets reached five million.
Ghana leads the group’s major markets
MTN Ghana delivered the strongest overall performance among the group’s three largest operations.
Service revenue increased by 32.3% in constant currency to R22.1 billion (US$1.26 billion), compared with growth of 25.7% in Nigeria and 1.5% in South Africa.
Ghana’s EBITDA rose by 40% to approximately R13.7 billion (US$783 million), while its EBITDA margin increased by 3.4 percentage points to 61.8% — the highest margin recorded by any of MTN’s major operations.
Data revenue grew by 47.3%, supported by a 17% increase in active data subscribers to 21.3 million and a 38% rise in average monthly data consumption to 19.3GB per user. Data accounted for 58.7% of MTN Ghana’s service revenue, up from 52.8% a year earlier.
Digital revenue almost doubled, rising by 97.5%, while mobile money revenue increased by 23.7%. Active MoMo users reached 18.3 million, the largest active mobile money customer base disclosed by any single MTN operation.
Revenue from advanced financial services, including digital payments and lending, increased by 28.8%. Mobile Money contributed 23.4% of MTN Ghana’s total service revenue.
Profit after tax increased by 41.4%, reinforcing Ghana’s position as one of the Group’s most profitable and fastest-growing businesses.
Ghana contributed 19.2% of Group service revenue and 24.5% of Group EBITDA, despite having a substantially smaller population and subscriber market than Nigeria. On a population-adjusted basis, Ghana’s performance arguably makes it the Group’s leading operation.
South Africa records a mixed performance
MTN South Africa recorded a comparatively subdued first half, with service revenue increasing by only 1.5% to R21.9 billion (US$1.25 billion).
Growth in postpaid, enterprise, and wholesale services was partly offset by weakness in the prepaid business. Total subscribers declined marginally by 0.7% to 39.5 million.
Data revenue increased by 4%, enterprise revenue by 5.8%, and wholesale revenue by 13.7%. Voice revenue declined by 10.2%, however, as customers continued migrating towards data-based calling and messaging services.
Fintech revenue fell by 16.3%, largely because of a deliberate restructuring of airtime-advance services, while digital revenue declined by 7.5%.
EBITDA decreased by 7.7% to R8.5 billion (US$486 million), with the margin falling by 2.2 percentage points to 34.3%. MTN said the measures being implemented were intended to improve the quality and long-term profitability of its prepaid customer base.
Uganda maintains growth despite disruptions
MTN Uganda recorded service-revenue growth of 9.4%, with its subscriber base reaching 25.4 million.
Data revenue grew by 15.6%, despite temporary internet disruptions and competition from illegal public Wi-Fi resellers. Active data subscribers increased by 16.3% to 12.6 million.
Fintech revenue rose by 10.6%, active MoMo users increased by 11.5%, transaction volumes grew by 9.5% to 2.6 billion, and transaction value rose by 20.8% to R21.7 billion (US$1.24 billion).
Uganda’s EBITDA increased by 4.7% to R4.3 billion (US$246 million), with an EBITDA margin of 51.2%.
*Rwanda, Zambia and Sudan drive regional growth*
The wider Southern and East Africa portfolio recorded service-revenue growth of 19.8%, above the region’s blended inflation rate of 17.6%.
Rwanda continued its recovery, achieving service-revenue growth of 21.4%, while Zambia grew by 18.8%.
Sudan recorded the region’s fastest percentage growth, with service revenue increasing by 156%, although this was from a conflict-affected and substantially reduced base. The operating environment remained highly challenging.
South Sudan’s performance continued to be affected by severe currency weakness and foreign-exchange losses, while Liberia remained part of the region’s broader positive subscriber and digital-finance growth, although MTN did not publish separate revenue-growth figures for the two operations.
Across the region, subscribers increased by 12.7% to 51.7 million, active data subscribers rose by 17.9% to 22.9 million, and active MoMo users grew by 13.2% to 27.2 million.
Regional data revenue increased by 29.1%, fintech revenue by 14.7%, and EBITDA by 14.8%. The EBITDA margin nevertheless declined by 1.9 percentage points to 43.6%, reflecting pressures in Uganda and South Sudan.
Côte d’Ivoire leads Francophone Africa
MTN Côte d’Ivoire was the standout performer in Francophone Africa, delivering service-revenue growth of 18.8%.
Its EBITDA increased by 43.9%, with the EBITDA margin expanding by 7.3 percentage points to 42.1%. The performance was supported by a more stable economic environment and growing demand for data.
Cameroon recorded service-revenue growth of 11.8%, while its subscriber base increased by 5.8% to 13.4 million. EBITDA rose by 12.5% to R3 billion (US$171 million), producing a margin of 43.7%.
Benin was the weakest operation in the region, with service revenue declining by 6.1% amid intense competition.
Congo-Brazzaville contributed to the region’s broader performance, although MTN did not disclose a separate service-revenue growth rate for the country.
Overall, Francophone Africa’s service revenue increased by 8.9%, data revenue by 25.1%, and fintech revenue by 8%. EBITDA rose by 17.8%, with the regional margin improving by 2.7 percentage points to 37.5%.
Associate businesses face pressure
MTN’s equity-accounted interests in Botswana, Eswatini, and Iran are excluded from the operational regional results.
The group reported a slowdown in the performance of Botswana’s Mascom. It also recognised a R3.9 billion (US$223 million) impairment on its investment in Irancell, reflecting the conflict in Iran, the deterioration of the Iranian rial, and reduced expectations for future cash flows.
No material standalone performance figures were reported for Eswatini.
Stronger earnings and balance sheet
Adjusted headline earnings per share increased by 21.3% to 793 South African cents, equivalent to R7.93 (US$0.45). Reported headline earnings per share declined by 5.8% to 615 cents, or R6.15 (US$0.35), largely because of the Irancell impairment and foreign-exchange effects.
Capital expenditure excluding leases amounted to R19.7 billion (US$1.13 billion), while the Group maintained a low net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 0.3 times.
MTN reaffirmed its medium-term guidance and said it expected continued momentum from Ghana, Nigeria, and its broader regional portfolio during the remainder of 2026.
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