MTN Group, Africa’s biggest mobile operator, has reported a strong start to its 2026 financial year, posting double-digit revenue growth, higher margins and solid subscriber gains.
This is underpinned by robust demand for data and fintech services across its African markets.
In a trading update today, the mobile operator says for the quarter ended 31 March, it continued to execute its Ambition 2030 strategy, supported by sustained commercial momentum in key markets, including Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon.
The group now serves 312.7 million customers across 19 markets, with overall service revenue rising 20% (21.1% in constant currency).
Rival Vodacom, in its annual financial results published yesterday, revealed it now serves a combined 237.3 million customers.
Data, fintech push
MTN notes that growth was led by data revenue, which increased 36.1%, and fintech revenue, up 22.4%.
Data traffic climbed 20.2% to 6 827 petabytes, while active data subscribers rose 8.7% to 175.6 million. Fintech transaction volumes increased 15.8% to 6.3 billion, with transaction value up 32.8% to US$163 billion. Monthly active users on MTN’s Mobile Money platform reached 67.4 million.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 27.9% in constant currency terms, with margins expanding by three percentage points to 47.6%, driven by cost-efficiencies and strong topline growth.
The group maintained a strong balance sheet, reporting leverage of 0.2x and HoldCo liquidity headroom of R42.6 billion.
“MTN Group has reported a strong overall performance and resilient financial results despite an uncertain geopolitical and macro-economic environment,” says MTN Group president and CEO Ralph Mupita.
“We have concluded the first quarter of executing on our new Ambition 2030 strategy solidly, with our operations delivering both service revenue growth and EBITDA margin expansion.
“Driven by our purpose of leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress, we invested capex of R9.6 billion to sustain the quality, coverage and capacity of our networks and to remain the platforms of choice for consumers, homes and businesses. Capex intensity of 16.4% was in line with prior period levels.”
He adds that macro-economic conditions had been mixed but broadly supportive in key markets, noting improved currency stability in Nigeria and Ghana, alongside moderating inflation across the group.
Operationally, Nigeria remained the standout performer, with service revenue up 41.7% in constant currency, while Ghana rose 35.7% and Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon posted gains of 18.3% and 14.4%, respectively.
South Africa delivered slower growth of 0.7% amid continued pressure in prepaid services, the company notes.
MTN says it continues to advance its structural separation of fintech businesses, with Ghana completing its separation in March and Nigeria securing shareholder approval. Uganda remains pending regulatory approval.
Rising tower portfolio
In digital infrastructure, the group is progressing its proposed acquisition of IHS, aimed at expanding its tower portfolio and strengthening its position as a major infrastructure provider on the continent.
MTN South Africa reported a mixed performance, with service revenue up 0.7% but EBITDA declining 12.5% due to prepaid weakness and higher costs. The unit continues to restructure its prepaid business, which management says is showing early signs of stabilisation.
The trading update shows that MTN Nigeria delivered one of its strongest performances, with EBITDA margins expanding to 55.3% and fintech revenue surging 77.8%, while MTN Ghana posted 35.7% service revenue growth and EBITDA margin expansion to 61.2%.
MTN points out that it remains focused on executing its Ambition 2030 strategy amid continued geopolitical and macro-economic uncertainty, particularly relating to energy prices, inflation and currency volatility.
Despite risks, the group maintained its medium-term guidance, targeting “at least high-teens” service revenue growth at group level, alongside continued expansion in fintech and disciplined capital allocation.
MTN will host a capital markets day in June to provide further detail on its long-term strategy.
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