Author: Gugu Lourie

The Shoprite Xtra Savings Rewards Programme is riding high, adding millions of customers and flirting with 20 million users. The company said on Tuesday its Xtra Savings Rewards Programme launch in the Shoprite supermarket chain during October 2020 was met with an exceptional response from its loyal customer base. Despite the challenges stemming from a launch of this scale during COVID-19 lockdown, the programme was rolled out to 825 Shoprite and Shoprite LiquorShop stores in record time, the company said. “Together with the Checkers Xtra Savings Rewards Programme launched 12 months prior, the Group’s Xtra Savings Rewards Programme now has…

Liquid Intelligent Technologies, formerly known as Liquid Telecom, is expanding its operations into Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Last month, the company raised $840 million in a bond and loans to refinance debt and expand further into the continent. The company that is majority-owned by African telecoms tycoon Strive Masiyiwa is also building one of Africa’s largest data centres in Nigeria. Nic Rudnick, the CEO of Liquid Intelligent Technologies, said the group has appointed a CEO in Nigeria and has been recruiting staff. He added that the company’s new data centre will be live in a few…

MTN Zakhele Futhi is again in discussions with MTN to avert a liquidity crunch after the mobile phone company scrapped its full-year dividend for the year to end-December 2020. MTN’s Zakhele Futhi is a ring-fenced special purpose vehicle aimed at facilitating investment by previously disadvantaged South Africans in MTN Group (MTN). MTN on Thursday suspended its final dividend as it focuses on faster debt reduction at its holding company even after posting a surge in 2020 earnings. MTN said anticipates paying a total ordinary dividend of at least 260cps for the 2021 financial year. “We anticipate that this will be…

MTN Nigeria announced today it has acquired an additional 10MHz spectrum in the 800MHz band. The company said it bought the spectrum from Intercellular Nigeria Limited. MTN did not disclose the amount it paid to buy the spectrum. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has approved the transaction and assigned the frequency to MTN Nigeria, the company said. MTN said the acquisition will significantly improve customer experience, in line with our commitment to deliver excellent service quality to our subscribers. “Through this acquisition, we will be better positioned to support the deepening of broadband penetration in the country,” Karl Toriola, CEO…

At yesterday’s annual presentation, MTN played Nigeria’s popular Afrobeats music, which has grown into a global force. That reminded me of Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie who in her most viewed TED Talk of all time, “The Danger of a Single Story”, describes the effects that labels can have on how we think about ourselves and others. “It is impossible to talk about a single story without talking about power,” says Adichie. “There is an Igbo [a Nigerian language] word that I think about whenever I think about the power structures of the world, and it is ‘nkali’. “It’s a noun…

MTN Group on Wednesday disclosed that its instant messaging platform, Ayoba, has reached 5.5 million monthly active users as of December 2020. To ensure Africa doesn’t miss out on the instant messaging revolution, MTN launched its instant messaging platform, Ayoba, in March 2019. Ayoba is an advanced communications application localised for African and Middle East consumer needs, under an independent Over the Top (OTT) brand with unique features for MTN customers. “We expanded our instant messaging platform Ayoba making good strides in the year, to record 5,5 million monthly active users, an addition of 3,5 million,” the company disclosed in…

The latest data released today shows that the value of MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) transactions were at $152 billion (R2.3 trillion) as of December 2020. The mobile phone operator added that it processed 12 400 MoMo transactions per minute (up 35% from 9 200 in 2019). Furthermore, the group disclosed that the number of active MTN Mobile Money users increased by 11,7 million to 46,4 million, generating a monthly ARPU of $1,2. “While COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of mobile financial services, growth in fintech revenue was moderated by reductions in transaction fees to support our customers, lockdown restrictions on agents and…

aYo, a mobile micro-insurance joint venture between MTN and SA’s third-biggest insurer Momentum Metropolitan, is firing on all cylinders. MTN Group announced on Wednesday that aYo insurance joint venture had 11 million registered policyholders and 6 million active policies as of December 2020. The company said in total, aYo generated $6,4 million (R106 million) in service revenue and $10,5 million (R172 million) premium income. aYo provides you with a fast, convenient and easy to use insurance right on your cell phone. You enjoy hospital and life insurance cover through airtime deduction (Recharge with Care) or when you send MoMo (mobile money) to your family or…

MTN is planning to demerge its Fibre and FinTech business and to bring third party investors to unlock value trapped in the company. Ralph Mupita, MTN CEO, said Wednesday MTN plans to separate the two businesses are already underway structurally. “Further to our previous announcement regarding our intention to focus on our pan-Africa strategy, we completed a comprehensive strategy review in Q4 2020 and are excited to introduce ‘Ambition 2025’,” he said. At its core, Ambition 2025 sets the context of how we will drive the business forward to take advantage of the digital acceleration trends, capture growth opportunities and reveal…

MTNGroup announced on Wednesday that it has attracted 29 million new subscribers in 2020 and grew adjusted headline earnings per share (HEPS) by 52%. HEPS is South Africa’s main profit gauge. The company also recorded a four-percentage point increase in return on equity to 17% and a more than doubling in operating cashflow to R28,3 billion. MTN Group now has more than 280 million customers as of December 2020 in 21 markets. As well as managing the risks of COVID-19, MTN Group remains alive to the opportunities presented by the pandemic, particularly the accelerated need for digitalisation evidenced in the…