MTN reports Nigeria as biggest market

MTN reports Nigeria as biggest market, up 2.1 percent to 61.1 million in the three months through March, while att-home in South Africa, the operator’s second-largest market, they were little changed at 28 million.

The continent’s largest wireless operator, said subscriber numbers rose 1.8 percent to 227.5 million in the first quarter even as a declining oil price and a weaker economy affected growth.

In a statement on Thursday, the Johannesburg-based company said MTN was “impacted by a weaker macro-economic environment following the reduction in the price of oil in 2014 and continued price competition.

NCC report

MTN Group president and CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa comments: “MTN’s results for the quarter were impacted by a weaker macro-economic environment following the reduction in the price of oil in 2014 and continued price competition. MTN Nigeria is improved subscriber growth trends although  revenue and minutes growth remains a challenge. While South African operation’s subscriber growth was impacted by  seasonality and some operational challenges, revenue growth was encouraging.

MTN operates in 22 countries across Africa and the Middle East.