MTN Group Completes Sale of Guinea-Bissau Business to Telecel

MTN Group, a pan-African telecom company, informed shareholders this week that it has completed the sale of its smaller West African subsidiary, Spacetel Guinea-Bissau (MTN Guinea-Bissau), after receiving all regulatory approvals. In a regulatory filing on August 7, MTN confirmed that it had concluded its exit from the market.

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Also Read: MTN Nigeria Launches First Fully Digitised Self-Service Retail Store

Alignment with Ambition 2025

The group stated that the disposal to Telecel, as announced in April, aligns with the group’s strategic priority to accelerate portfolio optimisation as part of its Ambition 2025 strategy, following exits from Yemen, Syria, and, most recently, Afghanistan. The financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed.

In March 2024, MTN Group announced that it had accepted an offer to sell the unit to Telecel. At the time of the announcement, the South African carrier stated that it was withdrawing from smaller markets to invest in digital platforms and fintech offerings.

MTN Nigeria Amends Infrastructure Agreements

In another development, MTN Nigeria has successfully renegotiated with IHS (Nigeria), INT Towers, and IHS Towers NG Limited (collectively, IHS) to amend the binding commercial terms of the existing infrastructure sharing and master lease agreements.

Also Read: MTN Nigeria Renegotiates Tower Lease Agreements with IHS and ATC

Telecel’s Expanding African Footprint

Telecel, founded in 1986, is an African-focused telecommunications provider that operates across much of the continent, including South Africa, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Kenya, and Senegal. In February 2023, Telecel Group successfully completed the acquisition of Vodafone Group’s 70 percent stake in Ghana Telecom, becoming its majority shareholder, while the government retained its 30 percent golden share.