(Ecofin Agency) – Last February, Sudanese telecom operators announced an interruption of their services due to the conflict that has raged in the country since April 2023. Services were partially restored at the end of May.
On the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at the end of September in New York, United States, a delegation from the MTN group traveled to Washington, DC, to meet with several Congressional officials American. Led by Mcebisi Jonas, president of the group, and Ralph Mupita (photo), CEO, the delegation notably pleaded for “much greater humanitarian aid and support for the economy» in Sudan, a country at war where the South African telecommunications company is present.
This intervention comes as the war, which began in April 2023, affects the activities of the MTN group. The company said the security crisis was leading to fuel shortages, power outages and disruptions in network availability. The operator’s active subscribers fell 80.8% year-on-year, reaching 1.57 million as of June 30. Average revenue per customer fell from $5.48 in the first half of 2023 to $1.4 over the same period in 2024.
In its financial results for the first half of 2024, MTN estimates that the conflict in Sudan was one of the main factors affecting its performance during the period. The company indicated that revenues from services (voice, data, etc.) fell 20.8% year-on-year, reaching 85.3 billion rand ($4.93 billion). She added that excluding MTN Sudan, the group’s service revenues would have increased by 13.6%. In Sudan, service revenues fell by 81.7% over the period.
The improvement in the security situation in Sudan should favor the relaunch of MTN’s activities in a market where it mainly competes with Zain. The company could also better exploit the potential of a market that had 29.15 million mobile subscribers at the start of 2024, for a penetration rate of 59.8%, according to DataReportal. The same source had identified 13.99 million Internet subscribers, or 28.7% of the population.
Isaac K. Cassouwy
Also read:
06/02/2024 — In Sudan, telecommunications operators announce an interruption of their services
03/07/2024 — Sudan: despite the ongoing conflict, Zain achieves a solid performance in 2023 with revenues up 14%
05/09/2023 — Sudan: MTN announces service interruption due to local security situation
