MTN Exits Guinea, Sells Business To Government

MTN Group said it has concluded the sale of its Guinea operations to the State of Guinea, marking its final exit from the market.

According to a statement from the Group, the sale was concluded on December 30, 2024.

MTN said the transaction aligns with its focus on portfolio optimization and simplification, as part of the Ambition 2025 strategy.

Commenting on the sale of the business, 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.

Read Also: Kano Govt Rejects Tinubu’s Tax Reform Bills

“Concluding this transaction is in line with the strategy to simplify the portfolio and allocating capital to markets where we can make a difference as MTN and deliver long-term growth and returns.”

Why MTN exited Guinea

The decision to exit the Guinea market stems from MTN’s assessment of portfolio fit within its risk management framework.

Speaking to the media 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.

Read Also: Olowu Kuta Felicitates Nigerian,Says It’s Time For Reflection, Renewed Hope

He elaborated that the group evaluates each market’s ability to fund its own growth sustainably.

According to him, the moment a business sustainably cannot fund its own growth for whatever reason, “we have to assess portfolio fit—yes or no.”

He noted that they were difficult decisions to make because “they involve colleagues, but they are necessary all the same.”

Read Also: US Court Orders Release Of Seized $6 Million Arms Funds To Nigeria

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.