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Half Year Report: MTN records $64.2 million net profit in Rwanda, Uganda

Published

1 year ago

August 14, 2023

The Ugandan and Rwandan subsidiaries of telecommunications company, MTN Group recorded a net profit of $64.2 million for the six-month period that ended June 30, 2023.

MTN Uganda, the country’s market leader, overcame high costs associated with staff, energy, leases, external service spending, and capital expenditure to post positive results, with its profit after tax increasing by 17.8% to $62.7 million from $50.3 million reported in the same period last year.

The Chief Executive of MTN Uganda, Sylvia Mulinge, said during the release of the results that “during the first half of 2023, we delivered a resilient performance in uncertain evolving and global macroeconomic conditions.”

Profits for its Rwandan affiliate decreased 43.2% to $1.5 million from $2.6 million during the same period last year as voice call sales and the steep depreciation of the Rwandan franc versus the US dollar had a significant negative impact on earnings.

“Macroeconomic conditions remain elevated with the inflation rate gradually reducing in the first half year 2023 by 7.9 pp (percentage points) to 13.7 per cent, driven by the government’s fiscal and monetary interventions,” said Mapula Bodibe, MTN Rwanda CEO in a statement.

“Despite navigating these challenges, our unwavering focus remains on implementing our Ambition 2025 strategy, propelling growth and fortifying our position as a leading telecommunications provider,” she added.

Due to an increase in mobile phone, broadband, and mobile money subscribers, MTN Rwanda reported an increase in income from $90.3 million to $103.6 million. Due to an increase in active data users and a 12.9% rise in data bundle usage per active subscriber, data revenue increased by 22.5%.

The financial statistics show that “Smartphone penetration improved by 3 pp to 24.5% as we continue to promote and expand our macye macye campaign offers.”

Related Topics:Featured MTN Profit Rwanda Uganda

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

4 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.