Category: Media releases

Bayobab Group acknowledges the ongoing disruptions affecting connectivity services in several West African countries, due to breaks in multiple major undersea cables. Recognising the critical importance of consistent internet and communication services, we are fully committed to swiftly addressing these disruptions.

To mitigate the impact on our customers in the affected countries, our operations are actively working to reroute traffic through alternative network paths and engaging with our consortium partners to expedite the repair process for the damaged cables. Leveraging our robust and resilient network infrastructure, we aim to minimise service interruptions and maintain connectivity.

We thank you for your patience and understanding as we work diligently to resolve this situation.

MTN Group announces the appointment of Ali Monzer as Chief Executive Officer of MTN South Sudan, effective 1 April 2024. Ali succeeds Gordian Kyomukama, who will retire after a distinguished career with MTN.

Ali brings over 23 years of telecommunications industry experience to his new role. Since joining MTN in 2004, he has held progressively senior positions, most recently as Chief Technology and Information Officer of MTN Uganda. In previous roles, he has demonstrated success in operational efficiency, cost optimisation, market growth and customer experience enhancement. He holds a master’s degree in computer communication engineering and relevant industry certifications.

“I am pleased to have Ali spearheading our operations in South Sudan and believe he will add immense value to the market,” said Ralph Mupita, MTN Group President and CEO. “His wealth of experience and proven track record in technology and operations make him well-positioned to drive MTN South Sudan’s continued growth and success.”

Extending his sincere gratitude to Gordian Kyomukama for his invaluable leadership and contributions throughout his tenure with the company, Mupita added, “I wish to take this opportunity to thank Gordian Kyomukama for always displaying vigour, determination, and an exemplary work ethic in his role.”

• The partnership is set to launch a prepaid virtual card tailored for MTN’s MoMo customers, granting them access to over 100 million acceptance points worldwide
• Additionally, it will empower MoMo merchants to seamlessly accept card payments, enhancing the platform’s instant cross-border money remittance services and capabilities

Mastercard and MTN Group Fintech have signed a multi-market agreement that will set in motion a new era of collaboration to connect millions of people and small businesses across Africa with digital tools to transact through secure mobile payments, expanding access to the benefits of the cashless digital economy.

The partnership will use Mastercard’s cutting-edge technology and capabilities to support MTN’s ambition to become Africa’s largest fintech platform for both merchants and consumers. This follows Mastercard and MTN’s recent agreement for a minority investment into MTN Group Fintech – the digital financial services arm of Africa’s largest mobile network operator – that concluded this month.

With MTN’s overall subscriber base at 290 million and 60 million active monthly MoMo (Mobile Money) wallets, the agreement will impact 13 markets in Africa including Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Republic of Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia.

“Our innovation strategy is based on collaboration. We are very proud of our partnership with MTN that will enable digital commerce for millions of people in Africa. In addition, mobile money solutions can be greatly beneficial for SMEs, enabling growth through seamless commercial operations, wider payments acceptance, access to affordable credit, and secure digital tools,” said Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President, Market Development EEMEA, Mastercard.

Africa is home to over 1.3 billion people and only about 43% are banked with over 90% of all payments and transactions made via cash. And of the total population, 45% have mobile money accounts. Over the past five years, Mastercard and MTN have joined together to support several mobile money programs across Africa, helping people to make payments through global platforms, thus bringing more people into the financial mainstream.

“When there is a mutual vision – in this case to bring access, progress, financial inclusion, and prosperity to people – the road to partnership is a simple one. We look forward to working with Mastercard as a partner that is also committed to the enablement of more people and businesses through the collaboration into best-in-class apps, superior user experiences, safe transactions, secure remittances, new use cases, and expanded acceptance,” said Serigne Dioum, Group CEO, MTN Fintech.

The collaboration will help strengthen local infrastructure for digital payments, support potential expansion of transactions in the future and drive financial inclusion through access to assets.

Enabling global access for MoMo wallet users

A virtual and physical Mastercard companion card will be added to every MoMo wallet allowing users access to over 100 million acceptance locations globally enabling MTN to scale up internationally.

With this access, Mastercard will also be able to provide its cybersecurity solutions to MTN’s operations with the aim of increasing customer loyalty and trust.

Empowering SMEs with payment acceptance solutions

The agreement will enable SMEs with payments acceptance solutions such as Mastercard’s SME-in-a-Box, a low-cost payments solution that enables small business owners to move their businesses online and accept a range of digital payments from their customers.  

SME owners will now be able to access solutions with the opportunity to set up an e-commerce shopfront, including QR enablement, Tap on Phone solutions and digital card acceptance. This aims to further elevate customer experience, reduce business costs, and open new avenues for growth and innovation.

Expanding reach for remittance solutions

Through the partnership, consumers will now have expanded reach for mobile money remittance services – both inward and cross-border remittances in Africa. The demand for international remittance services is growing with more than US$2 billion in daily processed transactions, equivalent to more than 40% of the GDP of Sub-Saharan Africa. International remittances via mobile-money wallets grew by 65% year over year in 2020 to around US$1 billion, with no signs of slowing.

Mastercard is committed to its work with multiple telecommunications network companies across the continent and around the world, to make financial inclusion a reality. The company has pledged to bring 1 billion people and 50 million SMEs into the global digital economy by 2025. The work to provide MTN’s consumers and SME customers with easy and secure solutions, platforms and tools is just one example of work to deliver on this goal.

• MTN Group is building and exploring new innovative capabilities, such as 5G and IoT use cases, using Ericsson Charging and Ericsson Mediation, integrated with Ericsson Dynamic Activation.
• The partnership sets the stage for continued growth and success as MTN Group journeys towards a cloud-native future in line with its Ambition 2025 strategy.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and MTN Group (JSE: MTN) have renewed their partnership for continued delivery to MTN of two flagship products from the Ericsson Business and Operations Support Systems portfolio, Ericsson Charging and Ericsson Mediation. These solutions are integrated with Ericsson Dynamic Activation (EDA) from the Ericsson Network Management portfolio. As part of the partnership, Ericsson will provide these solutions for the next 5 years across MTN’s pan-African market.

The partnership includes the modernisation of MTN Group’s Business Support Systems (BSS) ecosystem, enabling best-in-class features and capabilities that support exploring monetisation streams and new business models, such as 5G and Internet of Things (IoT).

This partnership plays a significant role in advancing MTN Group’s cloud-native transformation, fostering continued growth and aligning with the accelerated implementation of MTN Group’s Ambition 2025 strategy, which aims to build one of the largest and most valuable platforms utilising connectivity and infrastructure businesses for both mobile and fixed access networks across the consumer, enterprise, and wholesale segments.

With this agreement, MTN will continue using Ericsson Charging, Ericsson Mediation and Ericsson Dynamic Activation as part of the overall BSS landscape. With the ongoing support from Ericsson, MTN will have a robust base from which to grow and scale its services across Africa, capturing and securing revenue streams, enhancing billing accuracy and granularity, supporting new services, delivering revenue assurance, and enabling data monetization through preparation for analytics and IoT.

Mazen Mroue, MTN Group Chief Technology and Information Officer, shares: “We continue looking to elevate our technological infrastructure and offer pioneering services in our markets to our customers while achieving cost efficiency through our expansive scale. The sustained collaboration with Ericsson has been instrumental in promoting innovation, standardisation and enhancing operational efficiency. The recent agreement with Ericsson marks a significant milestone, enabling MTN to tap into the transformative power of cloud computing, driving us towards the objectives outlined in our Ambition 2025 strategy. This strategic move underscores our commitment to embracing innovative technologies that enhance customer experience and drive sustainable growth.”

Hossam Kandeel, Vice President and Head of Global Customer Unit MTN and Customer Unit MTN Africa at Ericsson Middle East and Africa, says: “As we continue to evolve and expand our partnership with MTN Group, we are committed to collaborating and providing the latest technology solutions that will help MTN operating companies to capture and secure revenue streams while delivering improved services to their customers. Our Business and Operations Support Systems portfolio is designed to provide the flexibility and agility communication service providers need to respond to changing customer demands. We are happy to sign this contract and support MTN Group in delivering superior service experiences, creating new business models for 5G, and driving digitalisation across Africa.”

Ericsson’s agile, flexible, robust, and resilient Business and Operations Support Systems and Network Management portfolios uniquely position MTN Group to unlock new revenue streams and capitalise on emerging opportunities in both consumer and enterprise markets. This multi-year partnership is a strong foundation for continued growth and success in the years to come.

• MTN Group embarks on a strategic transformation program to modernise and upgrade its core network infrastructure leveraging cutting-edge technologies to deliver superior customer experiences and innovation.
• MTN South Africa and MTN Nigeria will modernise and upgrade their core network in line with MTN Group’s MTN Unified Cloud Acceleration (MUNA) principles and objectives.
• Ericsson has been selected as the sole core strategic supplier for this five-year core network modernisation partnership.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and MTN Group (JSE: MTN) have agreed to modernise the core network of MTN’s affiliates in South Africa and Nigeria over five years in line with MTN Group’s MTN Unified Cloud Acceleration (MUNA) principles and objectives.The agreement was concluded recently, where the companies agreed on key strategic priorities and collaborations, underscoring both companies’ shared vision and commitment to fortify their long-term partnership.

Building on existing and successful partnerships for cloud-native core network deployment with Ericsson in both countries, the modernisation will ensure the readiness of MTN Nigeria’s and MTN South Africa’s network infrastructures to enable 5G standalone in the future. The modernised core networks will be powered by Ericsson’s cloud-native dual-mode 5G Core, and will enable MTN Group to achieve its objectives in Nigeria and South Africa of delivering innovative solutions for both consumers and enterprises in Africa.

Mazen Mroué, MTN Group Chief Technology and Information Officer says: “We are embarking on a strategic transformation program to modernise and upgrade our core network infrastructure, signifying a commitment to enhancing network performance and efficiency in respective markets. This collaboration is a key milestone for our Ambition 2025 to set new benchmarks in connectivity excellence, leveraging cuttingedge technologies to deliver superior customer experiences and innovation.”

The modernisation efforts in Nigeria align with national broadband goals and MTN’s strategic objectives. Mohammed Rufai, MTN Nigeria Chief Technical Officer says: ”The network upgrade is geared towards enhancing our core network. When completed, it will further accelerate broadband penetration in alignment with the Federal Government’s Broadband plan. This expansion is also in line with our strategic priorities – building the largest and most valuable platforms, driving industry-leading connectivity operations, creating shared value and accelerating portfolio transformation.”

MTN South Africa’s modernisation journey benefits significantly from this partnership, Rami Farah, MTN South Africa Chief Technology Officer shares: “Ericsson has been MTN SA’s network infrastructure partner for several years. This new partnership is an extension of what has been achieved by both parties over the years. The partnership will enable MTN SA to modernise further and upgrade the core mobile network in line with MTN Group Unified Cloud Acceleration principles and objectives which will ensure the readiness of our network infrastructure to support the strong data growth and enable 5G standalone in the future.”

From Ericsson’s perspective, the partnership with MTN Group is a testament to a shared ethos of innovation and progress. Representing Ericsson, Hossam Kandeel, Vice President and Head of Global Customer Unit MTN and Customer Unit MTN Africa at Ericsson Middle East and Africa says: “Our partnership with MTN Group is based on innovation and progress. Together, we are shaping the future of digital connectivity in Africa with the modernisation of MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa’s core networks. We aim to drive this influence across the entire continent, ensuring technological advancement and bringing communities closer in the digital age in line with Ericsson’s #AfricaInMotion vision.”

The MUNA principles and objectives are pivotal to MTN’s PACE technology strategy to accelerate the execution of MTN’s Ambition 2025 by transforming MTN’s network infrastructure into a modern, agile, and cloud-native core network. This transformation will empower MTN to offer innovative services to its customers, enhancing operational efficiency, driving growth, and enabling a better customer experience.

MTN Group and Huawei signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a Joint Innovation Technology Lab, aiming to deepen cooperation in technological innovation. The signing ceremony, which held at MWC Barcelona, Spain was attended by senior delegations from MTN and Huawei.

This strategic partnership will see the creation of an Innovation Technology Lab at MTN Group’s headquarters in South Africa. The lab will serve as a neutral platform for collaboration within the Africa’s digital ecosystem, accelerating the development, deployment and adoption of innovative digital solutions driven across the continent.

Together, the two companies will leverage this initiative to focus their research and development efforts on key areas such as 5G and beyond, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data analytics, cloud computing, and digital financial services. The partnership aims to accelerate the time-to-market of MTN’s products and services while addressing the unique challenges faced in Africa, including improving network coverage in rural areas, enhancing energy efficiency, and affordability.

Additionally, MTN’s operational teams will actively participate in the innovation process, ensuring the solutions developed directly address real-world challenges and drive meaningful digital transformation and sustainable development in Africa.

Group Chief Technology and Information Officer Mazen Mroue expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership stating, “The Joint Innovation Technology Lab is more than a partnership between two companies; it’s an investment in the growth of Africa’s digital ecosystem. We believe that collaboration is essential for developing solutions that truly meet the continent’s needs, and this Lab will pave the way for a more inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous future for Africa.”

Li Peng, Huawei’s Corporate Senior Vice President and President of ICT Sales & Service, said, “Huawei will continue innovating with MTN to ensure they have the products and solutions required to best serve Africa’s unique market. This will not only give MTN a competitive edge in terms of network quality, user experience, and rapid deployment, but also help MTN achieve their own business objectives. We believe that this newly-established lab will help supercharge both MTN’s R&D as well as Africa’s digital economy, bringing more prosperity to the African continent.”

This partnership further demonstrates MTN and Huawei’s shared commitment to shaping Africa’s digital landscape, opening new pathways for innovation and digital inclusion, and economic growth.

Dedicated to leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress, MTN Group committed to investing US$215 million in infrastructure in Benin over the next three years and building a state-of-the-art office for subsidiary MTN Benin.

These pledges were made during an MTN Group leadership visit to Cotonou, the highlight of which was a meeting with His Excellency President Patrice Talon attended by MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita, MTN Benin Chairman Amadou Raimi, Senior Vice President for Markets Ebenezer Asante, MTN Benin CEO Uche Ofodile and MTN Group Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer Nompilo Morafo.

“MTN works to be a force for good in our markets, giving Africans hope, dignity and opportunity,” said Mupita. “We are grateful for the warm reception received in Benin, where we have trialled 5G services and see opportunities to progress this.”

“We are committed to the development and upskilling of the Beninese youth and have made clear our desire to partner with the government and other stakeholders in this regard,” he added.

The President thanked members of the MTN delegation for their commitment and looked forward to future collaboration as MTN Benin – with some eight million subscribers – marks a quarter of a century of operations.

MTN has reiterated its commitment to Africa’s progress at the Africa Prosperity Dialogues, recently held at Peduase, in Accra, Ghana. The program, organised by the Africa Prosperity Network, was designed to drive Africa’s growth through high-level dialogues between government and business leaders from Africa and beyond to deliberate and exchange ideas on key issues and solutions for building and harnessing Africa’s growth.

Ebenezer Asante, MTN Group Senior Vice President, Markets, encouraged industry players as well as government officials from across Africa to support cross-border trade by putting an end to what he called the “tyranny of sovereignty”. He applauded the government of Ghana’s decision to facilitate visa-free travel for Africans and bemoaned the challenges Africans face in making cross-border payments and transactions.

He said, “The tyranny of sovereignty must end to allow proper trade and ease of doing business across West Africa. Technology continues to transform the way we trade, and we must leverage the immense opportunities it presents to trade within our borders. The tyranny of sovereignty is an impediment to progress because with our borders closed to each other, we cannot foster seamless trade. African countries must open their borders to each other to allow intercontinental trade.”

Nompilo Morafo, MTN Group Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer and Selorm Adadevoh, CEO of MTN Ghana, contributed to the conversation on “Critical Enablers for Single Market Success – Leveraging Infrastructure, Innovation, and Technology”.

Morafo underscored the significance of corporate entities engaging in discussions that propel Africa’s development. She expressed MTN’s enthusiasm for participating in initiatives like the Africa Prosperity Dialogues, which are vital for promoting digital and financial inclusion. Morafo added, “What we hope for is that at the end of these dialogues, we will see policies and frameworks enacted to bring to life the wonderful ideas we discuss at these sessions towards the overall growth of the African continent”.

Adadevoh, echoed her sentiment highlighting the advantages of harnessing the power of the youth to push Africa to the forefront of technology. He said, “It is not enough to invest in the infrastructure without investing in the skills needed. Africa has the largest youth population in the world. We must harness the power of the youth by transforming our current educational system towards a more digital framework.”

Participating in a discussion on ‘Scaling Up Mobile Interoperability to Deepen Financial Inclusion and Intra-African Trade,’ Eli Hini, CEO of MoMo PSB Limited Nigeria, highlighted the importance of involving Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in achieving interoperability across African countries. He shared, ”Ease of participation is a crucial factor in the discussion of interoperability if we want to deepen financial inclusion and intra-Africa trade. If we are finally able to get the framework and structures that allow us to trade among ourselves, then we must take into consideration the ease of participation. SMEs, often grappling with challenges in cross-border trade, should be a focal point. It will be a waste of time to solve the issue of cross-border trade if SME’s cannot benefit from it. They must be well integrated into the system and given the access that they need to leverage the benefits of this agenda. We must be careful not to put up roadblocks that hinder their participation.”

MTN is inspired by Africa’s potential and remains committed to bridging the digital divide, furthering financial inclusion, and advancing the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through its core business activities and its support to governments, communities and customers.

• Highlights MTN’s Ambition 2025 Strategy commitment, with strong emphasis on Fintech utilising the Ericsson Wallet Platform as a key channel for substantial growth.
• Agreement formalised during an executive visit by MTN Group to Ericsson Group HQ.

Building on the success of an initiative in Zambia to encourage young people to come up with ideas to address unsustainable environmental practices, MTN Group and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) today announced the Africa PachiPanda Challenge. This extends the organisations’ joint initiative to four more countries on the continent.

On the sidelines of COP28, MTN Group Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer Nompilo Morafo met with the Zambia Minister of Green Economy and Environment Collins Nzovu who said the local initiative had been a great success and included some first-of-a-kind projects in Zambia: “The Challenge has been a significant milestone in driving tangible solutions to address sustainable and lasting climate solutions in Zambia. The type of initiatives – such as waste-to-electricity plants – which have emerged from the Challenge has been noteworthy. We now need to focus on scaling the programme and ensuring we support these businesses in a meaningful way.”

To attract new ideas to address challenges, increase conservation awareness and create a more sustainable Zambia, MTN Zambia and WWF Zambia launched the PachiPanda Challenge in 2022 and held it again this year. Attracting more than 1 500 applicants, the events invited young Zambians and SMEs to submit their solutions to a number of ‘challenge statements’. These included:

• How might we leverage technology to ensure the benefits of conservation and sustainability practices are communicated to people of different ages, backgrounds and locations?
• How do we use technology to address conservation challenges?
• In what way can we develop environmentally friendly alternatives to existing unsustainable practices?
• How might we develop and encourage the use of sustainable energy alternatives?

“We are proud to have birthed an innovative Initiative out of Zambia that evidently supports Youth-led small Businesses in the Climate Space that creates green jobs in a green economy.” MTN Zambia Foundation Chairperson, Rose Sibisi.

“Through the Zambia PachiPanda Challenge, which is now transitioning into an African challenge, we believe that sustainable innovations key to addressing the pressing environmental issues facing our continent will be developed,” said Nachilala Nkombo, Country Director, WWF Zambia.

The Challenge will now expand to include four more countries – Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda – and will be open to applications from young people (aged 16-35) and youth-led SMEs with early-stage or idea-stage solutions to the environmental challenges presented.

“The Zambia PachiPanda Challenge, run by MTN Zambia Foundation and WWF Zambia, was an absolute success in the first two years, and we believe the initiative brought about meaningful and sustainable projects that have the potential to transform disadvantaged communities for the better,” said Evelyn Mwamubiru-Mwaura, Country Offices Project Quality Director, WWF Africa.

Morafo echoed these sentiments, saying: “MTN Group and WWF are committed to fostering innovation and sustainability in Africa and leveraging technology to achieve that. This challenge is an opportunity for African innovators to contribute to their communities and the wider continent, creating solutions that address environmental and social issues.”

The Africa PachiPanda Challenge, which is set to be launched in 2024, is more than a competition; it is a platform for change. It aims to inspire participants to think beyond conventional boundaries, develop solutions that address immediate challenges, and contribute to the long-term sustainability of their communities.