MTN Ghana’s business is pushing ahead with the establishment of a long-term infrastructure-sharing agreement with AT and Telecel, underscoring an ongoing move towards greater resource sharing in telecommunications.
The mobile provider revealed earlier in the year it had been in talks with the two rival operators, having signed an agreement with AT, previously AirtelTigo, in the first quarter.
MTN believes infrastructure sharing is essential for universal access and driving the West African nation’s digitalisation process. It said on Friday it was “dedicated to enhancing our connectivity and customer service offerings”.
This comes as Africa’s largest mobile operator looks for ways to cut costs in a tough economy.
Reporting third-quarter earnings on Friday, the company said it “will continue to seek cost efficiencies and maintain spending discipline to mitigate the impact of inflation on our overall operational costs”.
Similar to neighbouring Nigeria, Ghana’s economy has been through a difficult period over the past two years compounded by the depreciation of the local currency and a rise in living costs.
Inflation averaged 22.9% in the quarter, closing September with a rate of 21.5%. This represents a slowdown of 21.4 percentage points compared with the average rate of 44.3% recorded in the same period last year, and a decline of 1.3 percentage points against the 22.8% recorded in June 2024.
Ghana’s cedi has weakened 24.8% year-to-date against the dollar.
Against this backdrop, MTN Ghana delivered a strong performance in the period, with profit rising almost 36% as service revenue grew 32%.
Total revenue for the nine months to September was 31.9% higher at 12.7-billion cedis (about R13.83bn), while profit after tax rose to 3.76-billion cedis from 2.77-billion cedis a year ago. Service revenue grew to 12.73-billion cedis. Mobile subscribers rose 10.8% to 28.6-million and active data subscribers 17.3% to 17-million.
Active Mobile Money (MoMo) users rose 18.1% to 17-million, the company said on Friday.
CEO Stephen Blewett said the group had operated in a challenging economy through the period.
MTN Ghana will continue to invest to develop its platforms and improve its network and services, and to unlock value for stakeholders in line with its Ambition 2025 strategy.
“We continue to explore efficiency measures, preserve liquidity and strengthen the balance sheet against a backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainties,” it said.
MTN Ghana, the group’s third-largest operation, maintains its medium-term guidance of high twenties, in percentage terms, growth in service revenue.
Despite the economic challenges, MTN’s Ghana operation has fared better than its Nigerian business.
Earlier in the week, MTN Nigeria reported that it managed to eke out a profit of 4.13-billion naira (about R42m) in the third quarter, but for the nine months to end-September the group’s losses widened to 514.9-billion naira from a loss of 14.9-billion naira a year ago.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) decreased by 5.3% to 860.2-billion naira. Despite the top-line growth, ebitda remained under severe pressure primarily because of the naira’s depreciation, worsened by higher energy costs and general inflation.
MTN Nigeria is the group’s largest business.
With Jacqueline Mackenzie
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