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As the impacts of climate change become increasingly visible around the world, MTN believes in the benefits of a healthy planet and has pledged its commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2040.

With global warming on the rise and impacting countries, communities and people everywhere, MTN has set science-based targets to achieve a 47% average reduction in absolute emissions (tCO2e) for scope 1, 2 and 3 by 2030.

“As we build and operate the telecommunications infrastructure to drive greater digital and financial inclusion, we believe that our growth and success should not come at the expense of the future of our planet,” says MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita. “We must keep addressing the needs and challenges of society, which include playing our part in mitigating the effects of climate change.”

GHG emission-reduction target-setting, like that adopted by MTN, is in line with an ICT sectoral target-setting approach recently developed through a collaboration between the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), the GSM Association (GSMA), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). These targets support the Paris Agreement’s central aim of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change.

To realise its targets, MTN has launched its Project Zero programme to leverage the latest technologies and service partners to enable business sustainability via greater energy efficiencies, low carbon emissions, risk reduction and cost control. The programme prioritises renewable solutions, efficient emerging technologies and energy storage.

 “We believe ICT companies and mobile operators have the potential to significantly contribute to global decarbonisation efforts,” says MTN Group Chief Technology and Information Systems Officer Charles Molapisi. “We are pleased that Project Zero is in full swing, actively driving energy efficiency and carbon emission sustainability.”

The GSMA supports the science position on climate change realities and emissions limits set by the Paris Agreement. MTN is a member of the GSMA’s Climate Action Taskforce driving the mobile industry-wide plan to back the Race to Net Zero. The aim is to ensure a resilient, zero-carbon future that leaves no one behind.

 “We are excited about this next chapter in the MTN story and we recognise that we need to run and operate our business with sustainability at the core.  We have a role to play in Africa and the Middle East to contribute meaningfully on much-needed actions to mitigate the impact of climate change, that’s why we are committed to achieve net-zero emissions by no later than the end of 2040,” concludes Mupita.

Because transparency and disclosure are critical in MTN’s response, we participate in the Carbon Disclosure Project in alignment with the Taskforce Recommendations on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.

MTN Group has unveiled its a new Employee Value Proposition (EVP) entitled “Live Inspired” to drive agility, flexibility and future fit skills for its workforce.

Learning the lessons of the challenges brought about by COVID-19, MTN has adopted a refreshed, organisation-wide approach, which involves a move away from older, conventional ways of working and into the ‘new normal’ with confidence and optimism.

“For us, it’s really about the power of choice, we recognise that what our staff values is motivated by choices and flexibility. It is for this reason that our EVP is designed to cater to the various personas and preferences that inspires and helps people realize their true potential,” says Paul Norman, MTN Group Chief Human Resources Officer.

MTN has entrenched smart-working through principles such as anytime work, anywhere workplace and balanced work-life. Our programmes capitalize on the organic movement towards a digital-adopter mindset and flexi-workforce.

“As technology moves forward and our business converges, we need to do the same with our capabilities. Having the best talent is as important as having the best network,” Norman adds.

Talent convergence in line with the rapid pace of technological change is the way of the future, driving digital learning consumption growth indicating a natural shift towards upskilling and re-skilling. MTN’s digital aspirations is geared towards accelerating the creation of future capabilities, empowerment and agility at scale.

“The EVP will support our reputation for innovation, customer-centricity and being a company that is driven by people who bring personal commitment and a range of skills and experience together for the benefit of our customers,” says Norman.

He says real growth is inspired by a purpose that advances individuals and impacts on organisations and communities. We aim to enable opportunities for individuals to be innovative, acquire skills and meaningfully impact on our customers.

MTN’s focus will be to create an inspiring environment for everyone to ‘activate one’s whole self’. This will be powered by genuine inclusion, respect for diversity, fair rewards, true recognition and personal flexibility to contribute most productively.

In a unique public/private partnership, MTN, Africa’s leading mobile network, has announced a donation of US$25 million to support the African Union’s COVID-19 vaccination programme.

The donation will help secure up to seven million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for health workers across the continent, which will contribute to the vaccination initiative of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

“The devastating impact of COVID-19has been unprecedented and profound.  Public and private partnerships are needed if we are to succeed in the fight against the pandemic and restore social and economic norms for our continent and our communities,” says Ralph Mupita, President and Chief Executive Officer of MTN Group.

On 14 January 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chairperson of the African Union, announced that the African Union had secured a provisional 270 million COVID-19 vaccine doses on behalf of its Member States, through advance procurement commitment guarantees of up to US$2 billion to the manufacturers by the African Export-Import Bank.

This was an important milestone in efforts to ensure equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine for Africa’s people. However, with a population of about 1.3 billion, Africa requires many more doses to achieve at least 60 percent herd immunity. Contributions by private organisations, like MTN, are therefore essential to help the continent reach its target.

“Our goal is to ensure that all those who need the COVID-19 vaccine have access to it very quickly, but the biggest hurdle in Africa has been financing of the vaccines, and the logistics of vaccinating at scale. We therefore welcome the right partnerships, like the one with MTN, to achieve our minimum 60 percent vaccination target,” says Dr John Nkengasong, Director of Africa CDC.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, MTN has made significant contributions to help limit the spread of the disease and save lives and livelihoods within its African market.

This donation is another example of MTN’s efforts to help find lasting solutions to solve the challenges facing the continent and to guarantee a healthy Africa, for all Africans.

“We believe ongoing collaborations with key stakeholders across sectors are essential as vaccines are deployed in all our markets, with communication tools, technology and digital services being vital support infrastructure for a successful mass vaccination programme,” concludes Mupita. “In the coming months, MTN Group will look at similar support commitments for the markets in which we operate in the Middle East.”

As people everywhere ramp up their usage of instant messaging, more and more are choosing ayoba. MTN Group is proud to partner with this unique instant messaging platform localised for the needs of consumers across Africa.

Launched in 2019 to improve access to affordable communications, ayoba is active in 17 MTN markets, and is also available to download onto Android smartphones in numerous other markets from Google Play and via the ayoba website www.ayoba.me as an over-the-top (OTT) offering.

ayoba is focused on protecting users’ privacy and security:  it is not possible for messages in the app to be read by anyone else or to be shared with any third parties, including MTN. The app features peer-to-peer private messaging which is end-to-end encrypted; ayoba treats data with the utmost care and respect in line with its privacy policy.

All the content available on ayoba channels is curated and reviewed to ensure that its 100% family friendly and safe for younger users. A team of editors checks every post on ayoba content channels before it goes live across over 100 content channels and 120 games.

ayoba has also recently launched an in-app assistant, Aya, to guide new users on how to use the instant messaging app. Aya appears automatically in the app and can run a variety of interactive tutorials for key features within ayoba.

ayoba users can send and receive encrypted messages, share photos, videos, files, voice notes and even their location, and can also subscribe to live channels. Localised content is available through these channels that aim to entertain, educate and empower communities.

Since 2020, as COVID-19 spread across the world, ayoba’s daily lifeline data allocations on MTN’s networks in most markets allowed users free connections with family and provided them with zero-rated access to credible information through special COVID-19 channels.

10 Reasons To Use ayoba:

  1. FREE TO USE: ayoba is free to use. You need data to send messages and files to your contacts, but if you are on the MTN network, you will get free data every day to use the app.
  2. CHAT NOW: Instantly send and receive text and voice messages with any of your contacts.
  3. SECURE: End-to-end encryption means that messages in a conversation cannot be read by anyone else.
  4. QUICK CONNECT: Use your existing address book to quickly and easily connect you with your contacts.
  5. CHAT WITH EVERYONE: Send SMS text messages with anyone in your contact list, regardless of whether they’ve installed ayoba or not.  If the contact to whom you send a message does not have the app, the message will be delivered by SMS.  That contact can then respond by SMS and the response will come back into your app.  This is a unique technology.
  6. GROUP CHAT: The more the merrier. Set up group chats to easily communicate with friends and family in a single chat.
  7. SHARING IS CARING: Share videos, images, audio, and other files with your contacts.
  8. LET’S MEET: Share your real-time location with your ayoba contacts.
  9. CHANNELS: Consume all content across various categories ranging from news, sports, music to entertainment and much more, all within the ayoba app.  We have over 30 content channels live in Nigeria including Pulse for entertainment and the MTN YelloStar competition.
  10. LISTEN AND PLAY: We have a free music service in the app so you can listen to trending songs on our fantastic playlists.  We also have games that you can play, such as BattleShip, Pinball, Solitaire and more.  New content is added every day.

The app supports over 20 local languages spoken across MTN’s markets, including isiZulu, isiXhosa, Pidgin, Yoruba, Swahili, Hausa, French, Arabic, Portuguese, and English. At the end of June 2020, ayoba had two million active users.

In November 2020, ayoba was named the ‘Best Mobile App of the Year’ at the Africa Digital Awards 2020, acknowledging Africa’s first super-app, which offers users free instant messaging, mobile commerce and interactive entertainment.

Since COVID-19 started to spread throughout the world in early 2020, social media has been abuzz with speculation linking 5G technology to the pandemic. However, scientists and health experts across the globe have discredited this as misinformation spread by people seeking to make sense of a virus over which they feel they have little control.

MTN continues to work to raise awareness of the fact that there is no reliable scientific evidence of any link between 5G and COVID-19 and we remain focused on our efforts to combat the pandemic and support customers and society in these uncertain times.

We continue to prioritise the resilience and capacity of our networks, which provide the telecoms services that are vital in the fight against the novel coronavirus as well as the connectivity that customers need to remain economically active despite renewed lockdown restrictions in many markets.

In recent years, 5G mobile technology has undergone extensive research, with numerous studies finding that it has no negative impact on the environment nor people. This fact has been confirmed by leading global experts, independent professional groups and public health agencies, including the World Health Organization.

The United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union (ITU) says there is no scientific basis for the statements that link 5G to COVID-19. The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) says that claims that exposure to the electromagnetic fields generated by 5G devices can cause COVID-19 are “not supported by any evidence”.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says that there is no correlation between 5G and COVID-19, adding: “5G is an advancement on today’s 4G technology, designed to transform the world positively”. MTN Nigeria Chairman Ernest Ndukwe has also added his voice to efforts to debunk the misinformation (Read more).

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has condemned theories linking 5G to COVID-19, saying: “The Authority would like to urge all South Africans not to be swayed by these conspiracy theories that are hell-bent on bringing instability and fear”.

University of Johannesburg Vice Chancellor Professor Tshilidzi Marwala has also added his voice, saying: “There is no causal connection between 5G technology and any biological virus, including COVID-19” and that 5G will positively and fundamentally transform communication (Read more).

The GMSA mobile industry organisation has condemned acts of arson against mobile phone masts, calling on internet giants, content providers and social media platforms to accelerate their efforts to “remove fake news linking 5G to the spread of COVID-19”.

MTN continues to act to address the challenges brought on by the disruption to economic activity and the restrictions on people’s movements that have accompanied the spread of COVID-19. We continue to prioritise people, customers and communities, as well as looking after our network and our business.

We remain driven to deliver on our belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life. The rollout of 5G into the future is key to our work to bring more people into the digital world and allow Africa to reap the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution as the technology offers extensive network capacity; ultra-high-speed mobile connectivity; ultra-low latency as well as massive Internet-of-Things capabilities.

In compliance with paragraph 3.59 of the JSE Listings Requirements, the board of directors (“Board”) of the Company wishes to advise shareholders of the following Board changes:

  1. Nosipho Molope

The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Nosipho Molope as an independent non-executive director of MTN Group, effective, 1 April 2021.

Nosipho holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of the Witwatersrand (BSC Med) as well as a Bachelor of Accounting Science (Hons)(CTA) from the University of South Africa and is a Chartered Accountant (SA).

She has a wealth of experience in telecommunications, packaging, agricultural and petrochemical sectors. Having been a director and chairman of the audit and risk committees in various MTN operating companies, she is well versed in the challenges and complex regulatory requirements of the markers, where MTN operates.

Nosipho currenHy serves on the boards of several MTN operating companies, including South Africa, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia and eSwatini. In addition, she is a board member of Old Mutual Limited and South32 Coal Holdings Pty Ltd as well as the Engen Ltd.

She is commercially astute and has a deep level of technical accounting knowledge with an objective and broad-minded approach that stems from her multi-sector experience as well as her exposure to diverse cultures.

It is anticipated that Nosipho will resign from all MTN operating companies by 31 March 2021, including MTN South Africa. MTN South Africa is at an advanced stage in identifying her replacement, as audit and risk chairman.

The Chairman and the Board believe her extensive experience and knowledge of MTN is invaluable and her contribution will greatly enhance the Board’s deliberations.

  1. Noluthando Gosa

MTN is also pleased to announce the appointment of Noluthando Gosa as an independent non-executive director of MTN Group, effective, 1 April 2021.

Noluthando holds a BA (Hons) Communications from the University of Fort Hare, has completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration at Wilfrid Laurier University and has an MBA from the University of New Brunswick.

She has solid experience in telecommunications. In 1997, she was appointed as a founding member of the first independent telecommunications regulator, ICASA and was 1 of 6 Councillors tasked to set up the regulator in South Africa. Noluthando then joined Investec Bank and spent 3 years as a sell-side analyst, focusing on the telecommunications sector.

Noluthando is also an extremely experienced deal maker and businesswoman, having spearheaded numerous joint ventures and acquisitions in multiple sectors and having enjoyed considerable success as an entrepreneur. In parallel, she has served on multiple boards, including Investec Asset Management (now NinetyOne); AON SA and Broll Property Group.

Pursuant to her entrepreneurial success, she is currenHy the chief executive officer of Akhona Croup and is serving as a director on various companies where she is a shareholder. She is also a non-executive director of ArcelorMittal SA.

The Chairman and the Board believe Noluthando’ s entrepreneurial spirit and strategic ouHook will be key to the Board, in light of M TN’s growth aspirations. Her unique telecommunications experience will also bring a new perspective to the Board.

The Board wishes both Nosipho and Noluthando success in their new roles.

MTN announced on Friday that it has completed a comprehensive review of the Group strategy with a focus on accelerating growth, deleveraging the holding company debt and unlocking value. The revised strategy will be presented in more detail following the release of MTN’s 2020 full-year results in March 2021.

To support the Group’s strategy execution, MTN Group announced the appointment of a new Group Chief Financial Officer (GCFO) as well as changes to the Company’s regional structure and the Group Exco.

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Tsholofelo Molefe as the new GCFO. Tsholofelo (51) will take up the position as soon as practically possible in 2021, but by no later than 1 October 2021.

She is a qualified chartered accountant, CA(SA), and brings deep financial, risk and telecommunications experience. As Telkom’s GCFO since 2018, as well as its Chief Risk Officer and Deputy CFO prior to that, Tsholofelo played a key role in the strategic transformation programmes at Telkom.

Prior to working at Telkom, Tsholofelo was the Finance Director at Eskom as well as the CFO for First National Bank’s Personal Banking division. She is also a Non-executive Director on the board of Curro Holdings.

Tsholofelo will also join the Group board and take over from Sugentharan Perumal who has been acting in the position of GCFO since 1 September 2020.

“We are thrilled to have an executive of Tsholofelo’s stature join us,” said MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita. “The board is confident that she has the experience required for the position. She will play a critical role in the growth of the business and unlocking of shareholder value.”

Changes to the regional structure and the Group Exco

Effective 1 January 2021, MTN Ghana will become part of the Group’s West and Central Africa (WECA) region, a natural fit due to its geographic location in the region. From that date, MTN’s Southern and East Africa and Ghana (SEAGHA) region will be known as the Southern and East Africa (SEA) region.

Ebenezer Asante, the SEAGHA Vice President since 2017, will become the new WECA Vice President, and Yolanda Cuba, the Group’s Chief Digital and Fintech Officer, will take the helm as the SEA Vice President.

Ebenezer, 52, joined MTN in 2008 and is a highly experienced executive who has held senior positions in the Group, including CEO of MTN Ghana and CEO of MTN Rwanda. He is also a board member on a number of companies within the Group.

Yolanda, 43, joined MTN in January 2020. Prior to that she was Vodacom’s Chief Officer of Strategy and M&A and CEO of Vodafone Ghana, which saw her named telecom CEO of the year in 2018.

The SEA region is critical to MTN’s growth ambitions and presents a good opportunity for growth in mobile financial services. It also has the largest potential for further expansion. With her extensive experience in telecoms and finance, Yolanda will play a key role in driving growth and strategic progress in the region.

Serigne Dioum, Group Executive for Mobile Financial Services, will join the Exco as the Group Chief Digital and Fintech Officer. Serigne, 46, joined MTN in 2009 and has an established track record in the telecoms sector, with strong experience in mobile financial services (MFS).

Before joining MTN, he held senior positions in MFS, operational marketing, value-added services and data at Orange. Serigne is highly qualified and experienced to drive digital innovation and financial inclusion as well as build and scale these platforms as part of MTN’s growth strategy.

Kholekile Ndamase, Group Executive for Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), will assume the new Exco role of Group Chief M&A and Business Development Officer. Kholekile, 40, joined MTN in 2016 from RMB, where he led the equity-based financing business and was responsible for financing solutions and M&A execution.

Kholekile’s experience and leadership capacity is important to the group’s portfolio optimisation drive, itself key to the strategy. This includes the asset realisation programme, which aims to reduce debt, simplify the portfolio, reduce risk, improve returns and take advantage of expansion opportunities.

These executive changes follow those announced in October: Karl Toriola as CEO designate of MTN Nigeria and Ferdi Moolman’s appointment to the new exco role of Group Chief Risk Officer. Both are effective from 1 March 2021.

Commenting on the latest appointments, Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita said: “We are excited about our journey of growth and it is important to ensure that the management capacity is in place to sustain and accelerate our key strategic ambitions. Today’s appointments follow the recent management announcement we made on the 26th of October and continues the process of further deepening the skills and experience required to lead the Group’s ambitious drive into the future.”

 “Not only do these appointments safeguard continuity in the growth of our leading and scale connectivity business on the African continent, but, importantly, also support the acceleration of our digital platforms, de-risking of the business and unlocking of value. I am also particularly pleased with our continued steady progress in adding to the representation of women in our senior leadership team, which underlines MTN’s strategic focus on diversity and inclusion.”

 “I look forward to the contribution of the appointed executives in driving the company forward,” he concluded.

The Group Exco will be as follows: 

Driven to secure financial inclusion across its markets, MTN Group continues to grow the number of MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) users on its network, a trend that has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

By the end of September 2020, nearly 42 million people were regularly transacting on MTN MoMo across 16 markets. This compares to 38 million active users at the end of the first half of 2020, and 35 million at the end of 2019 – ten years after MTN launched MoMo.

Initially designed to facilitate the transfer of cash between mobile users, MTN’s MoMo offering is now much broader. The group works with numerous partners to offer services including loans, insurance, remittances and MoMo Pay, enabling customers to store money in their mobile wallets with which they can then pay for goods or services at registered merchants.

Mobile money services have grown faster in Africa than anywhere else in the world. In 2020, the trend has quickened, and the value of transactions has increased, partly supported by MTN’s reduction in MoMo transaction fees in many operations to assist customers battling the impacts of the pandemic.

In the first half of 2020, for example, the value of MTN MoMo transactions was US$61,2 billion, and the group processed 11 752 MoMo transactions a minute across its markets, up 28% from 9 193 transactions a minute in 2019.

The group remains committed to leveraging its technology to enable a cashless Africa.

For more on MTN’s work to extend financial inclusion, watch CNBC Africa at 17.30 CAT on Wednesday 25 November, when Yolanda Cuba, MTN Group’s chief digital and fintech officer, unpacks our plans.

MTN GlobalConnect is thrilled to announce that it was named the “Best African Wholesale Operator” at the prestigious Telecom Review Excellence Awards held in Dubai on Tuesday evening.

In addition, MTN GlobalConnect CEO Frédéric Schepens was presented with the “Leader Merit Award” in the category of Industry CEO of the Year for Wholesale Operators at the 14th edition of the industry publication’s awards. “

The MTN GlobalConnect team and I are humbled to win these awards,” said Frédéric. “In a year that has been challenging for everyone, the recognition fuels our mission to grow Africa by doing the work we do in infrastructure, supporting MTN’s belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life.” Established in 2018, MTN GlobalConnect is based in Dubai and its team is made up of more than 25 nationalities.

MTN Group on Friday announced a strong set of financial results for the third quarter, supported by the performance of its larger operations in South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana, and good group-wide growth in subscriber numbers despite challenging trading conditions which have taken a toll on people everywhere.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to impact lives and livelihoods across our markets, the group has demonstrated strong operational execution and resilience,” said MTN Group president and chief executive officer Ralph Mupita.

To meet the increase in data and digital usage, he added that MTN had focused its investment on network capacity and resilience and modernising its IT systems, spending R16 billion in the year to the end of the third quarter.

Service revenue grew by 11,4% to more than R43 billion. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 13,9% and the group EBITDA margin widened by 1,4 percentage points to 43,3%, in line with medium-term targets.

“We recorded solid growth in voice revenue of 3,9%, which reflects an encouraging recovery supported by the easing of lockdown restrictions,” said Mupita. “Data revenue grew by 31,9%, bolstered by increased demand for work-from-home services, digital entertainment as well as online education offerings.”

The group also reported growth of 21,0% in fintech revenue and 37,5% in digital revenue, driven by the increased adoption and usage of digital offerings.

In the quarter, MTN added 12 million subscribers to reach a total of 273 million across 21 markets, as well as adding 5,3 million active data users to 107 million. In our work to enable greater financial inclusion, we reached a significant milestone by surpassing the 40 million MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) user mark, an addition of 3,5 million in the quarter to 41,8 million at end-September.

“Apart from greater adoption brought on by COVID-19, more people used MoMo because of enhancements to the functionality of the MoMo app, the large increase in registered MoMo agents, as well as the integration of MoMo into our instant messaging platform Ayoba in some of our markets,” said Mupita.

MTN South Africa performed particularly well, sustaining its turnaround, with an acceleration in its core consumer and enterprise business units. MTN Nigeria recorded a solid result with some recovery in revenue growth under difficult operating conditions, and MTN Ghana delivered another good performance.

As part of its asset realisation programme, MTN Group completed its exit from its 18,9% investment in e-commerce venture Jumia as well as the localisation of an 8% shareholding in MTN Zambia, realising net proceeds of approximately R2,3 billion and R204 million respectively.

Looking ahead, Mupita said the group remained focused on managing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on its staff, customers, networks and the balance sheet and liquidity profile of the group.  Through its Y’ello Hope initiative, it would continue to support those stakeholders who have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic.

“Despite the relaxation of lockdown restrictions, the operating environment remains challenging and uncertain. We will continue to build on our operational and financial resilience. We have now increased our full year forecast for capital expenditure to R26 billion, to ensure that our networks provide reliable connectivity and digital services to all of our 273 million-and-growing subscriber base,” he said.