Partnerships – including between the public and private sector and across countries, with multinational organisations, suppliers and investors – are key to achieving sustainable growth in Africa. This is according to MTN Group, which was a key sponsor at CNN International’s first Global Perspectives event in London on Monday.

“We are getting to a space where, without partnership and working together – not only with our competitors, but also with other investors, with government, as well as even multilateral agencies and development fund providers – we are simply not going to be able to cover the next one billion people,” said MTN Group Vice President for Ghana and Southern and East Africa Ebenezer Asante.

He was talking about the one billion Africans who do not yet use the mobile internet and remain stuck in the voice era. The International Telecommunication Union estimates that in 2024, only 38% of Africa’s population was online, versus a global average of 68%.

By digitally including these people, and closing the usage gap, the GSMA estimates that an additional US$700 billion could be added to GDP in sub-Saharan Africa up to 2030.

“We require smart regulations,” Asante said, adding: “We require to bring the cost of deployment way lower than where it is today. That speaks to innovation, it speaks to partnership. We also require to build talent and skills.”

MTN Group is Africa’s largest mobile network, with more than 300 million subscribers. In the first half of 2025, it’s more than 63 million active Mobile Money (MoMo) users carried out more than 11 billion transactions valued at more than US$212 billion.

MTN Group Fintech CEO Serigne Dioum spoke about how fintech is enabling scalable, high-growth startup ecosystems across the continent by bridging funding gaps, formalising informal economies and catalysing a more inclusive digital marketplace across borders. He also underscored the importance of collaboration.

“Us and regulators, we have the same vision, the same objective. We want to drive financial inclusion, we want people to get more dignity,” he said as part of a panel discussion on fuelling the next-generation startup ecosystem, adding: “What is more important than financial inclusion, is for people to be independent financially.”

CNN International’s Global Perspectives: Africa event featured in-depth conversations and live interviews exploring innovation and sustainable growth, led by CNN’s journalists.