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MTN Group is today pleased to announce a solid set of third quarter operating results, plans for a public offer of shares in MTN Nigeria, progress in finalising a passive infrastructure deal for MTN South Africa as well as in our work to create shared value across our 20 markets, with ESG at the core.

For the quarter to end-September 2021, the Group also reduced debt and holding company leverage, recorded strong financial results in line with medium-term guidance and advanced the delivery of our Ambition 2025 strategy.

“It’s been a busy quarter, and I’m particularly pleased with the sustained operational momentum across our businesses,” said MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita.

“Material progress was made in accelerating the deleveraging of the holding company balance sheet, and our asset realisation programme and portfolio optimisation priorities are progressing well. The process of structurally separating our fintech and fibre assets remains on track.”

He added that the debt reduction led to S&P upgrading MTN’s standalone credit rating to investment grade – a level last achieved five years’ ago.

At period-end, the group subscriber base was 272m.

Driven by continued strong growth momentum in major markets Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, MTN Group’s service revenue ramped up 19.1% to R125 billion in the first nine months of the year. Data and fintech service revenue increased by 34.5% and 35.0% respectively. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 24.1%, with margins expanding 2.1 percentage points to 45.0% on a constancy-currency basis.

We advanced financial inclusion, reaching 51 million Mobile Money customers in 16 markets, processing almost 20 000 transactions a minute, with the value of transactions up 67.2% year-on-year to US$175.5bn.

As part of our asset realisation programme, the listing of IHS was an important milestone, creating a liquidity platform for the future to deleverage further. Our further localisation in Uganda with the intention to sell 20% of the Group’s holding in MTN Uganda is in progress.

We are also announcing a public offer of just under 3% of shares in MTN Nigeria as part of the statement of intent communicated previously to further localise 14% of the Group’s holding in MTN Nigeria over the medium term. MTN South Africa is making good progress with a sale and leaseback of its towers.

Aligned to our commitment to achieve net zero by 2040, we started working with the Science-Based Targets initiative to reduce our emissions in line with climate science. In joining Business Ambition for 1.5°C, MTN became part of the UN-backed Race to Zero campaign. In recognition of the strides made in governance practices, our MSCI ESG rating was upgraded to ‘A’ from a rating of ‘BBB’.

Looking ahead, Mupita was encouraged that the number of new COVID-19 cases across Africa had started to slow, but said the pandemic continued to impact lives and livelihoods and demand for mobile services: “It highlights the vital importance of telecommunications as people rely on these services for information and to work, learn and entertain from home. We as MTN are well positioned to deliver and will invest in line with our capital allocation framework to capture these opportunities.”

MTN Group has received recognition on the 2021 Fortune Change the World list. The Change the World List is a global ranking of the top 53 companies that make a measurable progress addressing pressing social problems as part of their business strategy.

“MTN is humbled to be recognised on the Fortune Change the World list. We are committed to changing the world through meaningful contributions to the societies across the markets in which we operate,” says MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita. “Our networks, products, and services are supplied with the intention of closing the digital divide by facilitating digital communications and financial inclusion.”

The publishers of the Change the World list have noted that many of this year’s honourees are battling to reverse the neglect of some societal needs, as magnified by the pandemic. These companies are investing in the long-term health of their businesses by supporting those on the lower stages of the global economic ladder, including distributing COVID-19 vaccines in low- and middle-income nations.

Since the start of the spread of COVID-19, MTN has remained committed to playing a part in the ongoing fight against the pandemic through our global mask wearing awareness campaign #wearitforme and #onemorepushafrica. Heeding the call for vaccinations across the African continent, MTN donated US$25 million to support the African Union’s COVID-19 vaccination programme. The donation to Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) will help secure up to seven million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for health workers on the continent.

Also noted during the pandemic, the urgent need to stay connected, saw data traffic soaring by 110% in 2020. MTN was able to address gaps in connectivity by improving the affordability of its services, whilst providing digital and financial solutions to consumers and businesses, and helping to drive digital inclusion to the most vulnerable and marginalised communities on the African continent.

For MTN, better connectivity doesn’t mean less eco-responsibility. MTN works with its partners to make sure we limit our environmental impact and safeguards biodiversity around every cell tower we build. MTN has also set science-based targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 47% by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2040. 

For us, this is about being part of the long-term solution, harnessing the power of partnerships to act swiftly to address the challenges brought on by the pandemic, whilst prioritising our people, customers, and communities, as well as looking after our businesses and the environment. It is for this reason, we continue to believe in the power of collective action to make a meaningful difference, focusing our efforts where needs are greatest.

Read more:

These companies are changing the world

How a pan-African company is connecting the world—responsibly

(Monday 28 June 2021). MTN Group has today joined a new global partnership to harness the power of green consumer behaviours to enhance biodiversity and climate efforts. The ‘Every Action Counts’ (EAC) coalition is launched today by the Green Digital Finance Alliance (GDFA), funded by the Finance for Biodiversity (F4B) initiative of the MAVA Foundation

The EAC brings together a global network of digital, financial, e-commerce, and consumer goods and services companies with experts in sustainability, and nature and biodiversity conservation. The new network will share best practices in encouraging individuals to take positive actions in daily life to create planet-friendly outcomes. Each coalition member will endeavour to pursue locally relevant approaches to driving sustainable consumer behaviours by advancing people-centric, tech-enabled and innovation-oriented engagement models.

The coalition holds the potential to scale green action as a norm which is encouraged, recognised and rewarded leveraging technology and innovation models.

Examples of this work in practice include:

The coalition aims to promote knowledge sharing to inspire innovative green tech solutions around the world, helping each payment platform and consumer goods company to focus on the green behaviours most relevant to their audience.

Nompilo Morafo, Group Executive: Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, at launch partner MTN said: “As MTN works to drive greater digital and financial inclusion, we recognise the importance of reducing our impact on the environment and balancing this to ensure more people are connected daily. We take a conservative approach to the use of energy, plastic, water and other resources through demand reduction, refurbishment, recycling and upcycling. For us, Every Action Counts enable us to offer our customers access to opportunities towards greener lifestyles and green job opportunities which can unlock the green economy across our markets.”

Marianne Haahr, spokesperson for the ‘Every Action Counts’ coalition and Executive Director of Green Digital Finance Alliance, said: “This new coalition wants to creatively leverage technology and partnerships to enhance green awareness and catalyse green action for 1 billion people by 2025. We want to encourage consumer behaviour that can become a driver of nature conservation and regeneration.

“We see a future where economic growth can coexist with, and even support, nature conservation and climate action, which is why we are bringing together partners who can help champion this vision for our global economy.”

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UN Environment Programme, a supporter of ‘Every Action Counts’ said: “Nature provides the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, but we have not been so kind in return. I welcome this coalition aiming to empower 1 billion people to become part of creating a world where everyday actions and choices combat climate change and end biodiversity loss. As we embark on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, putting people at the centre of the green transition is key.”

Launch partners are: Ant Group (China), BBVA (Spain), BigPay (Malaysia), DANA (Indonesia), FNZ (UK), GCash (Philippines), Lazada Group (Singapore), Mastercard (US), MTN Group (South Africa), Paytm (India), SANLAM (South Africa), and Telenor Microfinance Bank (Pakistan).

Experts working with the coalition include Siegmar Otto, a leading researcher on sustainable consumer behaviour and human-computer interaction; Professor Richard Wood of the Industrial Ecology Programme at NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology); and environmental engineer Francesca Verones, also at NTNU.

MTN Group is pleased to announce that it has joined the Joint Audit Cooperation (JAC) and the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), two globally recognised industry bodies committed to promoting technologies and practices that foster environmental, social and governance sustainability.

These memberships are a vital step in the realisation of MTN’s sustainability vision of creating shared value for our stakeholders through responsible economic, environmental and social practices.  

“As the leading operator in many of our markets, we recognise that in partnering with JAC and GeSI we have a significant opportunity to contribute to the collective agenda of driving greater adoption of sustainable environmental and social practices across our supply chain and the sector. This is how we realise the outcomes we aim for in placing ESG at the core,” says MTN Group Executive for Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Nompilo Morafo.

Telecommunications is a rapidly changing industry, vibrant with emerging technologies and competitive disruptors that are altering established business models and creating new sustainability-related opportunities and risks.

MTN Group Executive for Procurement & Supply Chain Management Dirk Karl says: “We recognise the unique blend of know-how that these two well-established bodies bring. In joining, we are able to verify the sustainability performance levels of our top 20 suppliers and their sub suppliers who have already been audited. The memberships also provide a platform to further enhance the audit coverage across our supplier base.”

Members of JAC – which was founded in 2010 and whose members include many of the world’s largest telecoms operators – share resources and best practices to develop long-term corporate social responsibility implementation in the different tiers of the ICT supply chain globally. Collaboration between the largest operators promotes sustainable sourcing globally.

“On behalf of JAC and its member companies, we are very pleased to welcome MTN on-board with us and look forward to working together. This provides us with further diversity from African and Middle Eastern continents in our collaboration on making progress on supply chain sustainability topics and issues,” says Paras Shah, JAC Chairman.

GeSI works to facilitate real-world solutions to real-world issues by contributing towards a sustainable future, communicating the industry’s corporate responsibility efforts and driving the sustainability agenda.

“GeSI’s mission is to help create a smarter, more sustainable world with digital solutions at its core,” said Luis Neves, Global CEO of GeSI. “We are thrilled to have a company like MTN, a leader in its industry sector and region, join us as a Member. Their engagement reinforces GeSI’s work to harness innovative digital solutions as a force for good as we commit to the 2030 Agenda. We look forward to a long partnership with MTN.”

MTN strives to always conduct business in a way that supports the long-term sustainability of the societies in which we operate. To meet these objectives, we conduct business with suppliers and partners who share our commitment to high ethical standards and operate in a responsible manner.

To provide our customers with the products and services they need, MTN relies on a multi-faceted and multi-layered global supply chain, which consists of approximately 15 000 suppliers. Not many telcos – particularly pan-African telcos – are members of both JAC and GeSI. By becoming a member of both organisations, MTN can ensure ethical, sustainable, environmentally responsible supply chain partners.

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, in partnership with a vendor management AI tool, embarked on a site optimisation platform proof of concept in 2019. The platform aims to reduce costs, ensure resilience and reduce MTN’s carbon footprint.

The vendor management platform first identifies built-in problems on each site upon installation. On a day-to-day basis the platform uses AI to optimise power usage of each tower site by monitoring the real-time status of site components including grid availability, battery life, solar availability and generator fuel levels. The platform then uses IBM Watson™ AI to choose the lowest cost and lowest environmental impact power source based on site characteristics and historic performance.

The platform automatic selection of power sources has resulted in an initial 53% reduction in CO2 emissions through the proof of concept process. Not only did the  platform reduce negative environmental impacts, it also resulted in zero network downtime and continuously drives improvements across our infrastructure. We are very optimistic about these findings and the role AI stands to play at the heart of MTN’s infrastructure programme.