MTN Group, Africa’s largest network operator by subscriber base, has confirmed the completion of the sale of its Guinea operations (MTN Guinea-Conakry) to the State of Guinea.
This was disclosed in a statement by the mobile operator on its website on Thursday.
The deal, finalized on December 30, 2024, aligns with MTN’s portfolio optimization and simplification strategy, part of its Ambition 2025 goals.
MTN Group President and CEO, Ralph Mupita, stated, “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 the support during the time MTN has been operational in the country.
“Concluding this transaction is in line with the strategy to simplify the portfolio and allocate capital to markets where we can make a difference as MTN and deliver long-term growth and returns.”
In an August 2024 media briefing in Johannesburg, Mupita explained the rationale behind MTN’s decision to exit smaller markets.
“Given our risk management framework, some markets are very difficult, and we’re not the best owners of those businesses. They are subscale and not able to fund their own growth,” he said.
Previously, the operator had disclosed its decision to sell its equity interests in Guinea-Conakry and Guinea-Bissau in a 2023 financial report.
In the report, MTN confirmed it had accepted an undisclosed offer from Telecel, an Africa-focused telecommunications operator, to acquire its interests in both countries.
MTN indicated that the Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry businesses were classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2023.
