As it is ready to finalise its exit from the market, MTN Group has identified M1 New Investments of Lebanon as the buyer of its Afghan operation. In an effort to refocus on its core African markets, the pan-African firm has been gradually leaving the Middle East since 2020. It stated in August 2022 that it had found a buyer for its operations in Afghanistan, but it did not specify who the buyer was.
More Information Regarding the Sale
M1 will now purchase MTN Afghanistan for US$35 million; however, regulatory approval is still pending. Following the Norwegian company's withdrawal from the market, M1 Group has also just purchased Telenor's business in Myanmar. Its departure from the Middle East is a component of a larger corporate strategy to concentrate activities in Africa, which it started in 2020.
MTN CEO and President Ralph Mupita stated in the company's trading report that the operator maintained its resiliency in the face of challenging macroeconomic, geopolitical, and regulatory situations while producing a strong operational and financial performance.
Mupita emphasised the magnitude of expanding fintech transactions and data flow. In the first nine months of 2022, data traffic increased by about 40% year over year, and in the third quarter, the number of mobile money users increased by 23.3% to 63 million.
Revenue from the fintech industry increased by 12.9%, and the number of active data subscribers increased by 14.9% to 135.4 million. MTN completed the period with 284.9 million members, an increase of 6.8%, and 63 million active mobile money users, up 23%.
The amount of fintech transactions climbed by 30% to 9.5 billion. However, it did add that service revenue for the third quarter increased 15.6% to ZAR49.6 billion ($2.7 billion), helped by operations in Nigeria and South Africa. The company did not provide revenue or net profitability numbers.
