MTN’s African Expansion Powers Record Growth as International Markets Outpace South Africa
The MTN Group has demonstrated the power of its pan-African strategy with explosive revenue growth in key international markets dramatically outpacing its home territory performance, according to the company’s latest financial results.
Strategic Shift Yields Dividends
MTN’s third-quarter 2025 results reveal a telecommunications giant increasingly powered by its international operations, with service revenue surging 31.4% across the group. The performance pushes total service revenue for the year to date to R160.38 billion, representing a substantial 25.9% increase from the same period in 2024.
MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita attributed the results to “improved macroeconomic conditions and the disciplined execution of its strategic and commercial priorities.” The company’s blended inflation rate moderated to an average of 13.3% during the period, down from 13.9% in 2024, providing more favorable operating conditions across several markets.
International Markets Drive Performance
The growth disparity between MTN’s international operations and its South African home market has become increasingly pronounced. While South African service revenue improved by just 1.4% in the third quarter, key African markets delivered extraordinary results:
Nigeria: Service revenue surged 67.4% in Q3 2025, reaching R43.94 billion for the year to date—a 46.9% increase over the same period in 2024.
Ghana: Growth was even more impressive, with service revenue jumping 74.4% and year-to-date revenue nearly doubling to R30.25 billion from R15.82 billion last year.
Uganda: Service revenue increased by 18.3% in Q3 2025, reaching R13.16 billion for the year to date.
Financial Health and Investment
The company’s profitability metrics showed remarkable improvement, with Group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) jumping 58.4% during the quarter and reaching R73.018 billion in the year to date—up 59.8% from 2024.
This financial strength has enabled continued substantial investment in infrastructure, with capital expenditure for the year to date climbing 40% to reach R27.92 billion, excluding leases. This strategic reinvestment appears to be paying dividends across multiple service categories.
Digital Transformation Accelerates
Beyond traditional telecom services, MTN’s digital and fintech offerings showed particularly strong growth. Data revenue increased by 40.3% thanks to active data subscribers growing 9.1% to 165.8 million, while data traffic surged 26.6% to 17,876 petabytes.
Perhaps most notably, MTN’s fintech revenue jumped 35.7%, supported by active mobile money users increasing by 5.3% to 64.3 million and 38% higher fintech transaction values. This underscores the company’s successful pivot toward digital financial services across markets where traditional banking infrastructure remains limited.
Subscriber Milestone Reached
The company also celebrated a significant milestone, with customers across all markets increasing by 5.8% to surpass the 300-million mark for the first time. “MTN is grateful for the ongoing trust of all our customers, the partnership of our suppliers and broader stakeholders, as well as the commitment of our staff to get to this achievement,” the company stated.
Strategic Implications
The results highlight several key trends in African telecommunications. While voice revenue continued to grow with a 10% increase over Q3 2024—contrary to trends in more developed markets—the explosive growth in data and fintech services points to Africa’s accelerating digital transformation.
MTN’s performance outside South Africa suggests the company’s strategy of focusing on markets with lower telecommunications penetration and higher growth potential is delivering substantial returns. The contrast with the more mature, highly competitive South African market, where EBITDA declined by 6.6% in Q3 2025, underscores the different growth trajectories across the continent.
As MTN continues its work to “connect Africa, provide leading digital solutions that will drive the continent’s digital transformation and socioeconomic progress,” these results demonstrate both the challenges of mature markets and the substantial opportunities that remain across the broader African telecommunications landscape.
This analysis is based on financial results reported by MyBroadband.