MTN Group has announced plans to invest an additional R35 to R39 billion (approximately $1.8 billion) to boost its data and fintech services offerings across Africa this year.
Justifying the need for further investment in data, MTN Group said it recorded a sustained high demand for data and fintech services in 2023. The Group’s active data subscribers increased by more than 9 per cent to 150 million – half the total subscriber base.
The Group’s active Mobile Money (MoMo) users also increased by 5 per cent to 72.5 million, impacted by a strategic shift in focus to wallet customers in Nigeria and base clean-ups in Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa.
As of December 2023, MTN Group’s total subscribers increased to 295 million across its markets.
“In the year to end-December 2023, data traffic on MTN’s networks (excluding joint ventures) grew by more than a third, with usage up to an average of more than 6GB per user per month.
“To sustain this growth, as well as network coverage and quality, MTN deployed capital expenditure (excluding leases) of R41 billion in the year,” the company stated.
