Telecom sector needs fewer players for better service delivery – MTN CEO

The Capital Markets Authority is pushing for a law to make players in the services sector list on the Uganda Securities Exchange. Will MTN list?

We are not against such initiatives. At the end of the day, these are shareholder discussions. I am not a shareholder. I don’t have a particular view on that. Of course there are many markets in Africa where this is happening. In Kenya, Safaricom is listed and Tanzania has made it now mandatory for companies like ours to list. I think Rwanda, Zambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast are all looking at this. There is a trend of looking at local listing. What I know is that, we will comply if there is any obligation. This is a hot topic on the continent.

How has MTN Uganda managed under slow economic growth for the last five years with average GDP growth below 5%?       

Even 5% growth rate is not bad. There are countries that would be extremely happy if they can get that 5%. I know growth here has somehow slowed down in the last five or so years. But for us in the services sector, we are not always too much directly impacted by those figures because it is about consumer spending. As you can see, we are innovating every other day to tap into more revenue streams instead of complaining about the economy performance. Through innovations you can be able to deal very well with macroeconomic challenges and beat competitors.

MTN mobile money operations in Uganda have substantially boosted your revenue performance since its launch in 2009. What new innovations are you planning for this platform apart from the six months old MoKash service?

Our innovations are going to be more focused on mobile money. We launched Mokash in August 2016 which has been successful. MoKash loan comes without any collateral or guarantee. We just urge our clients to meet their obligations on time so as not to punish the other users wanting to use the service. At the moment, more than 95% of our MoKash clients are 100% compliant. There is a 5% default rate which is not good. We are now looking at products that can enhance MoKash, for instance by looking at longer periods for loan repayment, higher amounts to lend especially to support more businesses and entrepreneurs. We will soon launch a product where customers can borrow through mobile money to buy specifically smartphones, which will help increase smartphone penetration and data usage. Every year MTN invests up to US$ 60 million for better service delivery in our network.

What else stands out for you about Uganda’s telecom sector as head of MTN?

The sector is in transformation. You are moving from voice to mobile money and data business. That is very exciting for us. Over the last 10 to 15 years we have been making much money out of voice but over the last 2-3 years, we have shifted to data and more mobile money, which are becoming more important. If you are to compare us with Safaricom in Kenya, you will realise they are making more revenue out of none voice yet for us, we are making more revenue out of voice as opposed to none voice. But anytime soon we will be making more revenue from data and mobile money and other components and less from voice.

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editor@independent.co.ug