MTN’s Annual Financial Results for 2022 revealed the trajectory of growth of MTN GlobalConnect.
With subsidiaries in five African countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Zambia and Kenya), MTN GC made further progress to drive MTN’s fibreco ambitions and continued to scale its fixed connectivity and wholesale mobility services. In 2022, MTN GC signed fixed external infrastructure deals valued at US$90.8 million. External revenue grew by 19.3% YoY to US$344.4 million, with mobility revenue up by 19.1%.
The wholesale mobility services segment delivered a solid performance during the year. International voice revenue grew 9.6% YoY due to growth in voice minutes from Hubbing and Cloud Collaboration. Messaging revenue was up 22.7% YoY, driven by increased mission-critical SMSs processed on MTN’s platform to authenticate mobile users. MTN also launched LTE roaming services during the year, including Voice over LTE (VoLTE) between MTN GC and AT&T Inc in the USA, with roaming traffic levels now above pre-pandemic levels.
Connecting and expanding scale infrastructure assets across Africa remained a key priority, with MTN GC rolling out 5 157km of new fibre in 2022. This brings our total inventory of proprietary fibre to over 105 157km as at 31 December 2022.
MTN GC invested significantly in subsea cable systems such as 2Africa, Google Equiano and ACE. MTN GC landed the 45 000km 2Africa cable in South Africa. This landing is the first in a series of six across five countries: South Africa, Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Ghana. The 2Africa cable east connection will go live during 2023 to bring seamless connectivity across three continents.
To further diversify our international connectivity, MTN GC has partnered with Google for fibre spectrum on the Equiano cable system. This cable spans 15 000km and will boost West African capacity and resilience. Our fibre investments enable an increase in data capacity penetration across Africa that meets the growing demand for international connectivity.
These investments will serve future demands on our ICT, fintech and digital applications. MTN GC has formed a strategic pan-African connectivity partnership with Microsoft. This partnership will see MTN GC provide access to large-scale infrastructure services that will build the capacity for Microsoft to drive digital transformation and enable a connected African continent.
Excerpt from MTN’s Annual Financial Results
