MTN Group Limited (“MTN”) has announced the successful conclusion of the sale of its operations in Guinea, also known as MTN Guinea-Conakry, to the State of Guinea on December 30, 2024. This transaction aligns with MTN’s ongoing portfolio optimization and simplification efforts under its Ambition 2025 strategy.
Ralph Mupita, MTN Group President and CEO, expressed gratitude to stakeholders in Guinea, stating, “This milestone marks a new phase for MTN Guinea-Conakry under local ownership, and MTN thanks the staff, customers, regulators, and broader stakeholders in Guinea for their support during our time in the country. Concluding this transaction is in line with our strategy to simplify the portfolio and allocate capital to markets where we can make a meaningful impact and deliver long-term growth and returns.”
The sale reflects MTN’s broader approach to reviewing its global portfolio, ensuring alignment with its strategic priorities. As part of the Ambition 2025 framework, MTN seeks to focus its resources on markets that offer sustainable growth and align with its mission of leading digital transformation across Africa.
Why the Exit?
The decision to exit the Guinea market stems from MTN’s assessment of portfolio fit within its risk management framework. Speaking at an MTN Editors Roundtable in Johannesburg in August 2024, Mupita explained the group’s rationale for disposing of operations in Guinea-Conakry and Guinea-Bissau.
“Given our risk management framework and the things we need, some markets are very difficult. We’re not the best owners of those businesses because they’re subscale or they’re small, and they are not going to be able to fund their own growth,” Mupita shared in remarks reported by Connecting Africa.
He elaborated that the group evaluates each market’s ability to fund its own growth sustainably. “The moment a business sustainably cannot fund its own growth for whatever reason, we have to assess portfolio fit—yes or no. These are difficult decisions to make because they involve colleagues, but they are necessary all the same,” he added.
For Guinea-Conakry and Guinea-Bissau, the group determined that even with significant growth in revenue or profits, MTN was not the best owner of these operations. “We looked at them and said, even if they triple their revenue or their profits, are we the best owners of these businesses? And the answer was no, so we said let’s engage with third parties,” Mupita stated.
MTN’s Legacy in Guinea
Since entering the market, MTN Guinea-Conakry has played a role in advancing telecommunications infrastructure and services within the country. The transition to local ownership signals a new chapter for the business, with the potential to further align with Guinea’s national priorities and ambitions.
MTN’s departure from Guinea-Conakry underscores its commitment to Ambition 2025, a strategy aimed at driving Africa’s digital progress. The plan focuses on allocating resources to high-potential markets where MTN can deliver impactful solutions, foster innovation, and generate sustainable returns.
//Staff writer
