MTN - The African Mirror

Oct

2023

Safaricom’s ‘Lipa Na M-pesa’ model comes to South Africa – courtesy of MTN

MTN has unveiled MoMoBusiness wallet, a suite of payment solutions to tap into the growing demand for cashless transactions in the South African market. Through its wallet, businesses can settle bills, salaries, and suppliers, collect bulk payments, access financial services such as loans and savings, and create invoices. "Businesses can accept payments directly from customers for transactions on everything from prepaid services to shopping vouchers, completely fee-free. Flexible cash-out options ensure easy access to funds, providing both convenience and security in financial management," said MTN SA Chief Financial Services Officer Bradwin Roper. "Within MTN stores, new point-of-sale devices will also…

Sep

2023

By CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Africa’s telcos race to replace plastic SIM cards with virtual versions

NEWS

AFRICA’s telcos have begun an aggressive push to replace traditional plastic Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards with virtual alternatives to tap into the fast-growing Internet of Things (IoT) market. MTN and Airtel are the latest to expand this offering to their subscribers in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. In the past month, MTN South Africa has expanded access to eSIMs to all its subscribers and signed a long-term contract with global IoT connectivity solutions provider, Eseye, to help the telco standardise a global eSIM and IoT platform offering. “Our strategic partnership with Eseye will enable us to sell diverse IoT…

Jun

2023

By AMINDEH BLAISE ATABONG

MTN says asset seizure in Cameroon threatens operations

NEWS

SOUTH African mobile operator MTN Group said that its Cameroon operations were threatened by the seizure of its bank accounts in the country as part of a dispute in which it plays no part. MTN Cameroon's accounts with more than 14 billion CFA francs ($22 million) have been frozen by a Cameroon court order since September 2022, as the company was brought into a loan dispute by a Cameroonian businessman, MTN said. Following a court decision on June 9, the funds were to be transferred into an escrow account managed by the court registrar, MTN Cameroon CEO Mitwa Ng'ambi told a…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

MTN commits to $1 bln Ghana investment after government scraps tax claim

BUSINESS

MTN Group will invest $1 billion in Ghana over the next five years, the mobile operator said, after the government exempted its Ghanaian unit from tax claims worth about $773 million. The investment comes on the heels of the Ghana Revenue Authority exempting the company's bill for back taxes earlier this month after the incident sparked a diplomatic reaction by the South African foreign minister. The tax claim was initially issued after the revenue authority audited the company for the years 2014 to 2018 and inferred that it under declared its revenue by about 30% during the period. MTN Chief Executive Officer Ralph…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

$77-millin tax dispute: SA calls on MTN, Ghana to resolve

BUSINESS

SOUTH Africa's foreign minister Naledi Pandor called on mobile operator MTN Group and the Ghana Revenue Authority to find a solution to a $773 million tax dispute. Earlier this month MTN said the Ghana Revenue Authority issued the company's subsidiary MTN Ghana with a bill for back taxes after auditing it for the years 2014 to 2018 and inferring that it had under-declared its revenue by about 30% during the period. MTN, which has a presence in 19 countries in Africa and the Middle East, said at the time that it disputed the "accuracy and basis" of the assessment and that it would fight…

Oct

2022

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s Telkom says bigger rival MTN has terminated buyout talks

BUSINESS

SOUTH African mobile operator Telkom said on Wednesday bigger rival MTN Group had terminated talks to buy the former in what would have created the country's biggest telecoms company. Telkom said it could not offer MTN assurances to enter into exclusive talks sought by the country's second-biggest telecoms service provider. MTN said in a separate statement that the companies were unable to reach an agreement on a deal. In July, MTN had offered to buy its smaller rival in a stock or cash-and-shares deal. But a month later, data network provider rain, partly owned by South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe, proposed a merger with…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

More African countries dive into a cashless future with new MTN, Flutterwave deal

BUSINESS

SETH ONYANGO, BIRD MTN’s new deal with payments technology firm, Flutterwave is set to deliver cash to mobile wallets of more Africans via MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) with the planned expansion in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia. This digital move is primed to plug millions of unbanked people in those countries into mainstream financial services and prop up businesses especially those in remote areas. MTN and Flutterwave’s deal follows Safaricom’s entry into Ethiopia earlier this year, giving it access to a market of more than 110 million potential subscribers. Safaricom, East Africa’s biggest telco, is gearing up for…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

MTN warns of service disruption in Nigeria

NEWS

CHIJIOKE OHUOCHA MTN's service in Nigeria could be disrupted as a result of rising insecurity in different parts of the country, the local unit of South Africa's telecoms group said yesterday. MTN Nigeria is the first company to acknowledge a possible disruption to its services due to insecurity in Africa's most populous nation. Nigeria faces increased insecurity across the country -- ranging from mass abductions at schools, kidnappings for ransom, armed conflict between herdsmen and farmers, armed robberies and various insurgencies -- a drag on growth and job creation. "Sadly, we must inform you that with the rising insecurity in…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Telecoms towers burnt in S.A by 5G protesters

NEWS

ABOUT three telecommunications towers belonging to Vodacom and MTN were burnt this week following a resurgence in conspiracy theories which link the emergence of COVID-19 to 5G technology, South Africa's communication minister has said. The towers were burnt and destroyed between Tuesday and Wednesday this week in KwaZulu-Natal province, the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said in a statement and also urged police to arrest those responsible "for this anarchy". "It is regrettable that the much-needed network infrastructure is being destroyed ... mobile telephony is crucial in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic," she said. There was…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

MTN racing against time to keep up to 30-million Nigerian users from being cut off

BUSINESS

MTN, one of African biggest cellular service providers, is racing against time to ensure that its database complies with Nigerian law so as to prevent up to 30 million subscribers from being cut off. The Nigerian government has stopped the sale of new sim cards and instructed telecommunication companies to ensure that all the active sim cards are linked to an identity number. All sim cards that are not linked with a nine-digit Nigerian ID number by December 31 will be cut off. And that is not the end of trouble for cellular phone companies. The Nigerian authorities have warned…