Number of subscribers at MTN Group 2018-2024, by country and quarter
MTN Group – one of Africa’s largest telecommunications providers – increased their overall number of subscribers to around 287 million as of the first quarter of 2024. Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Ghana, and Ivory Coast are among MTN's major markets, accounting for more than 15 million subscribers each.
MTN Group revenue: voice still on top
Outgoing voice calls were MTN Group’s largest revenue stream in 2022, generating approximately 4.27 billion U.S. dollars for the company. Data was the close second most lucrative revenue stream, bringing in approximately 4.26 billion U.S. dollars. The Nigerian market accounted for more revenue than any other country, with 4.54 billion U.S. dollars coming from the region.
Mobile Money: increasing financial inclusion to Africa
While certainly not MTN Group’s largest revenue stream, the one billion U.S. dollars the company generated from fintech is indicative of the role mobile money and MTN's MoMo platform plays in the profit centers of modern telecommunications companies in Africa. Generally provided by a telecommunications company, mobile money enables those without a bank account to participate in the economy, allowing transactions to be made using almost any mobile phone.
MTN Group’s offering – MoMo – grew by over six million active subscribers just in the fourth quarter of 2022. The total value of all mobile money transactions in Sub-Saharan Africa doubled from 456.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 to over 800 billion by 2022, more than any other region in the world, showing the importance of mobile money to both customers and providers in the region.
