MTN revenues explode outside South Africa
November 18th 2025
The MTN Group continued its strong financial performance in 2025, with excellent results in the third quarter, driven by impressive revenue growth in markets outside South Africa.
MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita attributed the results to improved macroeconomic conditions and the disciplined execution of its strategic and commercial priorities.
The Group’s blended inflation rate moderated to an average of 13.3% in the period, compared to 13.9% in 2024.
“In terms of local currencies, the rand was slightly stronger with an average rate of R18.23 to the dollar versus R18.47 to the dollar in 2024,” Mupita said.
“The average [Nigerian] naira remained relatively stable during the period, while the Ghana cedi was stronger against the dollar on a YoY basis and averaged GHS12.60 to the dollar.”
Between July and September 2025, MTN’s total group service increased by 31.4%. That pushed the total service revenue for the year to date to R160.38 billion, up 25.9% from the same period in 2024.
Group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) jumped 58.4% during the quarter and reached R73.018 billion in the year to date, up 59.8% from 2024.
MTN Nigeria’s service revenue surged 67.4% in Q3 2025, pushing its total for the year to R43.94 billion, up 46.9% over the same nine months in 2024.
Growth was even better in Ghana, where service revenue surged 74.4%.MTN Ghana’s revenue for the first nine months of 2025 was R30.25 billion, nearly double the R15.82 billion recorded over the same period last year.
MTN Uganda’s service revenue increased by 18.3% in Q3 2025, reaching R13.16 billion for the year to date. That reflects a 17.1% increase over the R11.24 billion in the first three quarters of 2024.
In MTN’s home market, service revenue improved by just 1.4% in the third quarter. South African service revenue stood at R32.66 billion by September, up 2% from the same nine months last year.
Ebitda declined by 6.6% in Q3 2025 and 4.6% in the year to date, while the Ebitda margins over the same periods reduced by 1.5 and 0.4 percentage points.
MTN said its postpaid and enterprise segments in South Africa showed solid performance, but this was offset by prepaid struggling in a highly competitive market.
Cracking 300 million customers
MTN also reached a major subscriber milestone, with customers across all markets increasing by 5.8% to surpass the 300-million mark for the first time.
“MTN is grateful for the ongoing trust of all our customers, the partnership of our suppliers and broader stakeholders, as well as the commitment of our staff to get to this achievement,” the company said.
“We are excited to continue our work to connect Africa, provide leading digital solutions that will drive the continent’s digital transformation and socioeconomic progress.
Other highlights from MTN’s performance include data revenue increasing by 40.3% thanks to active data subscribers growing 9.1% to 165.8 million, and data traffic surging 26.6% to 17,876 petabytes.
While the technology has declined in popularity in more developed markets, MTN’s overall voice revenue continued to grow, with a 10% increase over Q3 2024.
These improvements were supported by increased investment in infrastructure, with capital expenditure for the year to date climbing 40% to reach R27.92 billion, excluding leases.
MTN’s fintech revenue also jumped 35.7%, supported by active mobile money users increasing by 5.3% to 64.3 million and 38% higher fintech transaction values.
| MTN Group results | YTD Q3 2024 | YTD Q3 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service revenue | R127.370 billion | R160.376 billion | +25.9% |
| Ebitda before once-off items | R45.691 billion | R73.018 billion | +59.8% |
| Ebitda margin | 33.8% | 43.8% | +10.1 pp |
| Capital expenditure excluding leases | R19.841 billion | R27.920 billion | +40.72% |