Africa\u2019s biggest mobile-phone company is doing a spring clean of its empire.<\/p>\n
MTN Group Ltd said Thursday it\u2019s conducting a review to decide whether it really needs to be in all 22 of its markets across Africa and the Middle East. Some of them are tiny, others are war-torn while still more have regulators desperate to curb the Johannesburg-based company\u2019s perceived dominance.<\/p>\n
Here are a few countries where MTN is facing challenges, and some new ones that it could move into:<\/p>\n
Benin<\/strong><\/p>\n MTN is in a dispute with regulatory authorities in Benin on frequency fees, which it says are too high. \u201cWhile we are fighting hard to stay in that market, economic sense needs to prevail,\u201d Chief Financial Officer Ralph Mupita said in an interview Thursday.<\/p>\n Cameroon<\/strong><\/p>\n MTN received a $6.6 million fine from Cameroon\u2019s telecommunications regulator and a one-year reduction in its license term for allegedly not complying with spectrum and subscriber registration regulations. The company was also ordered to disconnect 3 million subscribers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a big priority to resolve this in the near term,\u201d Mupita said. \u201cIf it\u2019s not resolvable, then it\u2019s not resolvable. We want to find an amicable resolution to stay.\u201d MTN won\u2019t invest in countries it classes as \u201cconflict markets,\u201d which means the local units have to be self funding to stay in business. The company will take \u201cappropriate action\u201d if any of them are not cash-flow positive.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the markets are able to return to a non-conflict situation they could be attractive to us,\u201d Mupita said. \u201cSyria, for instance, was one of our top ten markets not so long ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Nigeria<\/strong><\/p>\n While MTN is highly unlikely to leave its biggest market, the company has had run-ins with the regulator and was forced to pay a $1 billion fine last year for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered users.<\/p>\n The company expects double-digit Nigeria sales growth in the medium term, above an overall average of high-single digits, as economic conditions improve and it gains subscribers from troubled competitors. As part of the fine settlement, the company agreed to list its local unit on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Talks are also ongoing with the regulator to use spectrum gained from its acquisition of Visafone in 2016.<\/p>\n \u201cOur strategy is to grow our network and we need all the spectrum we can,\u201d said Mupita.<\/p>\n Iran<\/strong><\/p>\n Iran is one of MTN\u2019s top three markets but the company is struggling to repatriate cash that\u2019s been stuck in the country for years due to former U.S.-led and U.K. sanctions. The carrier has managed to repatriate about 6.5 billion rand ($546 million) to date and is in talks with the central bank to move another 5 billion rand later this year.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are prioritizing foreign-exchange allocation to primary industries such as food goods at the moment,\u201d said Mupita.<\/p>\n Ghana<\/strong><\/p>\n MTN has agreed to sell shares in its local unit to Ghanaian investors in exchange for a 4G license.<\/p>\n \u201cThe primary objective is not to monetize, but to comply with regulatory requirements for the 4G license,\u201d said Mupita.<\/p>\n New Markets<\/strong><\/p>\n Angola plans to sell a minority stake in a state-owned telecommunications provider and hold an auction for a fourth industry operator in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will certainly look at Angola and also Ethiopia if it opened up for a license. There are a couple of countries in West Africa that we could look at, like Togo and Senegal,\u201d the CFO said.<\/p>\n
\nYemen, Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan<\/p>\n
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