After years of multi-billion fines, regulatory uncertainties, and economic volatility MTN is embarking on a new adventure outside of its core business: - telecommunications.
We are moving from a telecom company to a techCo (technology company) Joshua Chijioke Henry, head of business development, for Chenosis a big data company by MTN, told TechCabal.
That sentence has become a song every executive in MTN knows by heart. It has also spurred the companys increasing focus on the growth of its existing verticals such as MoMo, a fintech unit valued at over $5 billion; Ayoba, a chat platform rivaling WhatsApp that will soon be turned into a super app; and Bayobab, a fibre-cable-facing unit.
The transition is inevitable for the company whose growth in the telecom industry in Nigeria, its largest market on the continent by subscriber count, seems to have reached a stage where it is no longer growing at a fast pace and is starting to decline.
The companys subscriber base has struggled with growth since it reached a peak of 92.7 million subscribers in February 2023. The latest report by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shows that the telcos subscriber count dropped to 81.7 million in March 2024.
