MTN will focus on establishing its presence in Africa as it plans to end its Middle East operations, media reports said. Furthermore, the company will sell 75 percent of MTN Syria stake.
Rob Shuter, chief executive officer, told the media, “As a first step we are in discussions to sell our 75 percent stake in MTN Syria. MTN’s first half performance affirmed the resilience of our people and business model as we delivered strong results against the backdrop of unprecedented socio- and macroeconomic uncertainty and challenges.”
The company also revealed earlier that it will replace Rob Shuter as the chief executive officer and assign a new one soon. It is reported that the company’s service revenue surged 9.4 percent to R80 billion in the first quarter while attaining EBITDA growth of 10.9 percent to R42 billion.
The company’s user base reached 262 million as it added 11 million fresh subscribers in the first six months of the year. Current, 102 million active data users and 38 million active Mobile Money users are there in the company’s platform.
In terms of investment, the company has injected R10 billion into capital expenditure across markets and covered new areas to provide 3G and 4G services at affordable rates.
Currently, there are 257 MTN million customers in 21 countries. Today, 480 million people enjoy the company’s network coverage for data services. Last year, MTN sold 675,000 affordable data-enabled mobile phones in 12 countries. In addition, it also rolled out a digital programme targeting literacy in nine countries to fight illiteracy and poverty.