MTN Rwanda’s profit has soared more than 400% after it added more than 800,000 new subscribers, the group said on Monday.
Rwanda, the latest of MTN Group’s African businesses to report first-quarter earnings, said profit after tax increased by 466.6% to 8.3-billion Rwandan francs (about R93m), driven by strong growth in service revenue.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) increased by 32.8% to 34-billion Rwandan francs, driven by solid growth in revenue delivered across its data, voice and Active Mobile Money (MoMo) segments.
Service revenue increased by 21.2% to 81.4-billion Rwandan francs as total subscribers increased by 10.6% year-on-year to 8.4-million.
MoMo users increased by 20.5% year on year to 6.3-million, and active data subscribers increased by 19.6% to 2.7-million, it said.
CEO Monzer Ali said Rwanda’s fundamentals continue to underpin sustained demand for connectivity and financial services, even as the global geopolitical incidents in the Middle East are impacting global trade flows, leading to higher energy costs and tighter monetary conditions.
“These weigh on consumer spending and the cost of doing business by directly impacting our supply chain needs and, most importantly, our customers’ wallets and spend. Our response is structural, not reactive: we remain focused on protecting affordability for our customers, accelerating efficiency across the business, and continuing to invest in the capabilities that will define the next phase of growth,” he said.
Looking ahead, Ali said the group’s connectivity and fintech platforms are expected to anchor growth. The structural demand drivers across the Rwandan economy — rising digital adoption, deepening financial inclusion, and the national ambition toward a cashless, knowledge-based economy — give MTN Rwanda a clear runway to compound value over the medium term.
He said the company will continue to accelerate network modernisation, expanding 4G and 5G coverage while advancing the 3G sunset transition.
“We will deepen the synergy between connectivity and fintech, scaling MoMo’s contribution through expanded use cases in payments, lending and enterprise solutions,” he said.
However, he warned of headwinds, including inflationary pressures, higher energy costs and tighter monetary conditions.
The company will continue to focus on cost efficiency, capital allocation discipline and operational resilience, ensuring that it protects margins and cash generation while continuing to invest in the capabilities that matter for the long term, he said.
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