Reliable and affordable access to electricity remains a problem in a number of countries in which MTN operates. In Rwanda, both urban and rural areas suffer from irregular access or non-connectivity to the energy grid, and are forced to rely on expensive and dangerous diesel or kerosene-based power sources. MTN decided to lead the telecommunications market by piloting a solution to improve access to energy and telecommunication services. As a result of a successful pilot phase, with positive feedback, the solution was introduced in early 2013   View more

South Africa has been experiencing a national energy shortage for a number of years. The country has been working on long-term plans to improve national energy supplies, while implementing solutions to address demand and consumption nationally. MTN South Africa required an additional 2 megawatts of energy to meet the needs of its test centre (to test handsets, network equipment and technology innovations without impacting the live network) and facilities at its head office site. The national utility informed MTN that spare capacity was not available to meet the business’ requirements within the required time frames.   View more

At any point in time, it is estimated that only up to 30% of Nigeria’s national power requirements may be supplied by the national grid. The country is therefore highly dependent on diesel for its energy requirements. The cost of diesel is subject to international prices and market movements. For MTN Nigeria, this means that the cost of maintaining base transceiver station (BTS) sites (and other network, technology and office facilities) has been surging annually. MTN Nigeria has over 8, 000 BTS sites, with about 2,660 sites installed with hybrid battery and diesel energy systems, which, while useful in reducing some direct energy costs, can only guarantee an average of 43% savings on energy costs. There is therefore a strong need and operational drive to reduce OPEX further than what was achieve on the hybrid installed sites.   View more

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification programme is a US benchmark for the design, construction and operation of green buildings. In South Africa, the national energy supply crisis which resulted in unplanned power outages, as well as increasing environmental awareness among both corporates and consumers were a catalyst for our efforts.   View more

Against the backdrop of energy poverty in Africa, in December 2011, MTN Uganda partnered with Fenix International to launch the ReadySet battery charging system with the broad objective of improving the productivity of our mobile money agents and broad retail base by providing sustainable power.   View more