MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita has met with Syrian Arab Republic Minister of Communications and Information Technology His Excellency Abdulsalam Haykal on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The two parties formalised an agreement to regularise MTN’s exit from Syria, with the intention that both sides implement the agreement imminently.

In August 2021, MTN Group announced its decision to abandon the MTN operation in Syria given regulatory actions and demands that made operating in the country untenable.

MTN first announced plans to exit the Middle East in 2020, as part of a strategy to focus on its African operations. The Group finalised its exit from Yemen in 2021 and from Afghanistan in 2024. It is still seeking to exit its 49% investment in Iran, but this has been complicated by US sanctions.