MTN Group is Africa’s largest mobile network operator, headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange under the ticker MTN. The company was founded in 1994 as M-Cell with assistance from the South African government [3]. Three decades later, the Y’ello brand has grown from a single South African cellular licence into a group spanning Africa and, at various points, parts of the Middle East and Asia.
How it all began
After securing one of South Africa’s two national cellular radio telephony service licences in September 1993, MTN began building its network in January 1994, eight months behind the state-owned competitor. Within six months, the two networks were on par, and MTN launched commercial operations on 1 June 1994 [1]. The following year, the company that held 25 percent of MTN, M-Cell Ltd, listed on the JSE [1].
The mid-1990s were about building scale at home before looking outward. In October 1996, MTN launched its prepaid “Pay As You Go” solution, which opened up the market dramatically because it required no contracts and no credit checks, meaning even people without bank accounts could now own a cellphone. That same year, MTN also offered SMS text messaging for the first time [1].
The push across Africa
MTN began its international expansion in 1997, and in February 1998 it created MTN International as the vehicle for that growth. That year the company acquired licences in Uganda, Rwanda and Eswatini (then Swaziland), with the kingdom’s King Mswati III making the country’s first cellular call on his own birthday [1]. MTN also became the first cellular network in Africa to earn ISO 14001 certification for environmental management and ISO 9002 for customer service [1].
The 2000s brought MTN’s biggest single market. In January 2001, MTN won a licence in Nigeria, a country that at the time had only about 700,000 fixed lines and 22,500 cellular lines serving 120 million people. Commercial services launched there in August 2001, and the operator changed its name from M-Cell Ltd to MTN Group Ltd the following year [1]. Nigeria would go on to become MTN’s largest and most valuable market.
Expansion continued through the middle of the decade. In 2000, MTN acquired Camtel Mobile in Cameroon and rebranded it MTN Cameroon [1]. By 2005, the group had bought 49 percent of Irancell in Iran, 44 percent of Mascom in Botswana, a licence in Côte d’Ivoire, all of Libertis in Congo-Brazzaville, and Telecel in Zambia, while also becoming one of the first African operators to offer 3G [1].
The single largest deal in MTN’s history followed soon after. In 2006, shareholders approved the purchase of Dubai-based Investcom in a US$5.5 billion deal, which expanded MTN’s footprint across Africa and the Middle East from 11 countries to 21 [1]. That acquisition is why, for years, MTN’s operations stretched as far as Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen alongside its African markets.
Growth, subscriber milestones and setbacks
MTN’s subscriber base grew rapidly through the late 2000s and into the 2010s. Group subscribers passed 7 million in 2003, topped 54 million by 2007, reached 91 million in 2008, and hit 116 million in 2009 as the group grew its market share in nearly all of its 21 operations [1]. By 2011, the group had reached 164 million subscribers [1].
The period wasn’t without difficulty. In 2012, civil unrest in several markets made it harder to repatriate cash, though the same year MTN became the biggest investor in the US$650 million West Africa Cable System, which increased broadband capacity across the region [1]. The most costly setback came in Nigeria. In 2015, the Nigerian Communications Commission imposed a US$5.2 billion fine on MTN Nigeria for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered SIM cards, leading to 6.7 million disconnections. The fine was later negotiated down to US$1 billion in 2016 [1].
MTN used the years that followed to reposition itself as a digital and financial-services company as much as a telecoms one. In 2017, it launched its BRIGHT strategy, built around best customer experience, returns and efficiency, igniting commercial performance, growth through data and digital, hearts and minds, and technology excellence [1]. MTN listed its Ghanaian unit on the Ghana Stock Exchange in 2018, followed by MTN Nigeria’s listing in 2019, the same year the group recorded US$96 billion in mobile financial transactions, at a rate of about 9,200 transactions per minute [1].
Retreat from the Middle East, focus on Africa
The 2020s have been defined by MTN narrowing its footprint. In 2021, MTN listed its Rwandan and Ugandan units, launched its Ambition 2025 strategy, and exited Yemen and Syria [1]. The Afghanistan business followed a similar path. MTN received a binding offer of around US$35 million for its Afghanistan operation, and the exit from that market was completed as part of a broader wind-down of its remaining Middle Eastern businesses, though its 49 percent stake in Iran’s Irancell continues to be managed within the group’s portfolio [4].
A similar rationalisation has been under way in smaller West African markets. In 2024, MTN divested its stakes in Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry to Telecel, shifting its focus to larger regional markets such as Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire [6]. The sale of MTN Guinea-Bissau to Telecel was completed after all necessary regulatory approvals were received [7], and MTN has said discussions on an orderly exit from Guinea-Conakry and Liberia are part of the same portfolio clean-up [5].
By late 2025, that strategy had paid off in scale terms even as the number of markets shrank. In October 2025, MTN announced it had surpassed 300 million customers, becoming the first African-headquartered telco to reach that milestone and the sixth-largest mobile operator in the world by subscriber count [3].
Where MTN operates today
According to MTN’s own half-year results for the six months ended 30 June 2026, the group serves 317.7 million customers across 19 markets, organised into South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, a Southern and East Africa region, and a Francophone Africa region, alongside equity-accounted joint ventures [2].
Its controlled operations and joint ventures currently span:
- South Africa – MTN’s home market and headquarters
- Nigeria – the group’s largest market by subscriber numbers
- Ghana – a core West African market and the site of MTN Ghana’s stock exchange listing
- Southern and East Africa region: Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, South Sudan, Sudan and Liberia
- Francophone Africa region: Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, and Congo-Brazzaville
- Joint ventures: Botswana, Eswatini and Iran, which are managed as equity-accounted investments and excluded from the group’s regional operating results [2]
MTN has said discussions continue on exiting Liberia and its remaining Guinea-Conakry business as part of a strategy to concentrate on markets where it can achieve real scale, with Nigeria and Ghana singled out as the group’s most important growth engines going forward [5].
Beyond voice and data
MTN’s more recent history is as much about fintech and infrastructure as about mobile calls. In the same half-year period, the group’s fintech revenue rose 13.3 percent, transaction value climbed to US$330.5 billion, and Mobile Money monthly active users grew 12.1 percent to 70.8 million [2]. Mobile Money itself has deep roots in MTN’s history. The service launched in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire back in 2009, well before mobile money became a mainstream feature of African banking [1]. The group has since built out a wider digital ecosystem, including the Ayoba messaging and content app and Bayobab (formerly MTN GlobalConnect), its fibre and data centre infrastructure arm serving multiple African submarine cable systems.
Thirty-two years after its first call on South African soil, MTN’s story is one of an operator that expanded aggressively across two continents in its first two decades, absorbed some of the costliest regulatory battles in African telecoms history along the way, and has spent its most recent years trimming a sprawling footprint back down to the markets it believes can genuinely scale.
Disclaimer: This article is based on public sources available as of 22 September 2026 and is for general information only. Confirm with government and other credible sources before using any of the information shared here. If you notice an error or want to suggest a correction, please contact us so we can review it.
References
[1] MTN Group, “Our journey,” https://mtn-investor.com/mtn-our-journey/index.php
[2] MTN Group, H1 2026 results (JSE SENS), https://www.mtn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/MTN-Group-H1-26-results-JSE-SENS-1.pdf
[3] Wikipedia, “MTN Group,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTN_Group
[4] DataCenterDynamics, “MTN Group expects Afghanistan exit by end of year,” https://datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/mtn-group-expects-afghanistan-exit-by-end-of-year
[5] Telecoms Chamber, “Preparations underway for MTN to exit from 3 African markets,” https://telecomschamber.org/?p=1233
[6] The Exchange Africa, “MTN cedes MTN Guinea-Bissau and MTN Guinea-Conakry to Telecel,” https://theexchange.africa/tag/mtn-cedes-mtn-guinea-bissau-and-mtn-guinea-conakry-to-telecel
[7] Techpoint Africa, “MTN exits one of its West African markets, completes sale to Telecel,” https://techpoint.africa/news/mtn-exits-guinea-bissau-telecel/
