VenturesNow

MTN South Africa records high profit despite poor economy

Published

2 years ago

March 10, 2022

MTN Group’s South African unit on Wednesday said it reported high profit and subscriber growth in 2021.

The tech giant disclosed that its subscriber numbers jumped by three million to 35 million as “churn stabilised” and as the company reported higher gross additions.

According to the company, service revenue climbed by 6.5%, while data revenue leapt 13.1%. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) – a measure of operational profitability – increased by 6.1%, although the Ebitda margin contracted marginally to 38.9%.

Data consumption accelerated in 2021, according to the yearly report, with data traffic growth of 58.3% and a 12.5% increase in the number of customers actively using the Internet, MTN said.

Capital expenditure rose to R10.4-billion when measured using IFRS 16 reporting standards (or R9.1-billion under IAS 17 rules), an increase over 2020’s investment.

“MTN South Africa delivered very strong overall results in 2021, on sustained commercial and operational execution across all business units. The [operating company] maintained a solid growth trajectory in all core businesses, namely the prepaid consumer business unit (CBU); the post-paid CBU; the enterprise business unit; and the wholesale business,” MTN Group said.

“This performance was achieved against a challenging macroeconomic and consumer backdrop and increasing unemployment rates in industries such as hospitality and tourism. MTN South Africa was also impacted by shifts in customer spending patterns as lockdown restrictions abated and the movement of people increased. This intensified competition for share of the consumer’s wallet.”

Still, the company’s 6.5% service revenue growth exceeding the medium-term target and was supported by healthy performances by the prepaid CBU (up 2.1%), the post-paid CBU (up 4.5%), enterprise (up 16.8%) and wholesale (up 21.7%).

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Nigeria wants $2.25 billion World Bank loan

Published

6 mins ago

April 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Wale Edun, has revealed that the country is seeking up to $2.25 billion in World Bank loans and expects the bank’s board to approve the request in June.

The move was announced in a statement following the International Monetary Fund/World Bank spring meetings in Washington, D.C as the country also aims to issue diaspora bonds later this year to attract much-need foreign exchange into the country.

The World Bank loans would include $1.5 billion for development policy and $750 million for program-for-results, the statement said. It also said that the bank would meet in June to decide whether to approve the plan in its entirety.

The multilateral body is yet to comment on the revelation at press time.

Nigeria one of Africa’s biggest oil producers has struggled lately mainly over industrial-scale crude oil theft, and troubles getting foreign currency, which caused its naira currency to drop to all-time lows against the U.S. dollar. It has since recovered, though.

Already, the country is on record levels of debt, high unemployment, and large amounts of money from the central bank. However, Edun has insisted that the government had cut the money it borrowed from the central bank in half.

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Ghana’s finance minister anticipates debt restructuring MoU with lenders

Published

14 hours ago

April 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Ghana’s Finance Minister has announced that the country’s two main creditors will send him a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a restructuring deal in May, signifying a major progress in the country’s debt reform.

Once the MoU is signed, it will make public the deal that was made in January to restructure $5.4 billion in loans with its official creditors, such as China and France.

The restructuring is a big step toward Ghana getting rid of its debt as it works to get out of the worst economic crisis in a generation. It should also allow the country to get more money from its $3 billion IMF program.

Mohammed Amin Adam said he was sure the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank would work together at the Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C. In June, the Monetary Fund’s executive board will agree to review its staff-level deal.

From 2023 to 2028, Ghana’s national debt to gross domestic product level was supposed to go down by 15%. This guess says that the number will have gone down every year for six years, ending at 69.96% in 2028.

Ghana didn’t pay back most of its foreign loans in December 2022 because it became too expensive to do so. But now it needs to work out a deal with private holders of about $13 billion in foreign bonds. It has also changed most of its domestic debt.