MTN Group’s revenue climbed to $10.7 billion in the first nine months of 2026, with Nigeria and Ghana emerging as major growth drivers as the telecommunications giant recorded stronger data demand and improved financial performance across its African operations.
The Johannesburg-based telecoms group reported a 9.9% year-on-year increase in service revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, supported by a recovery in its Nigerian business and sustained growth in Ghana.
The company’s financial results, released on Monday, November 9, showed that data consumption remained central to its expansion. Brandspur Banking News Desk reports that the performance highlights the growing importance of mobile internet services to MTN’s earnings as customers increasingly rely on data for communication and digital activities.
MTN’s total subscriber base expanded by 7.2% to 322.9 million across its African markets, while revenue from data services rose by 20.9% in reported currency to $5.4 billion.
Data now accounts for 50.4% of the group’s service revenue, reflecting a shift in consumer usage towards internet-based services.
Active data subscribers increased by 9.6% to 181.7 million, while total data traffic rose by 27.3% to 22,754 petabytes. Smartphone penetration across the group’s subscriber base reached 66.4%.
The growth in data services contrasted with the performance of traditional voice calls, whose revenue declined by 3.1% in reported currency to $2.8 billion. However, voice revenue increased by 3.4% on a constant-currency basis.
MTN Nigeria recorded a particularly strong performance in the third quarter, with data revenue increasing by 31.4% as active data users reached 57.2 million.
The Nigerian business also recorded a 19.7% increase in service revenue during the quarter, with growth accelerating monthly to 21.6% in September.
MTN Ghana delivered an even stronger increase in quarterly data revenue, which rose by 39.9%. Its service revenue also grew by 33.5%, while the company secured 5G and mobile broadband spectrum under 15-year licences valued at $202 million.
The improved performance in both markets helped lift the group’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by 22.9% in constant currency.
Its EBITDA margin expanded by 2.8 percentage points to 47.9%, reflecting improved operating efficiency and cost management despite higher energy expenses.
MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita said customer demand remained strong, with data revenue accounting for more than half of service revenue.
He attributed the improvement in profitability to operating leverage and the group’s expense efficiency programme, which helped absorb rising energy costs.
The group’s fintech business also recorded growth, with monthly active Mobile Money (MoMo) users increasing by 9.3% to 70.3 million.
Fintech transaction volumes rose by 20.1% to 20.3 billion, while transaction value increased by 36.9% in constant currency to $512.5 billion. Revenue from the division grew by 12.7% to $1.37 billion.
However, the fintech business remained below its medium-term growth targets, partly due to the temporary suspension of airtime and data lending services in Nigeria during the second quarter.
MTN Nigeria expects the services to recover to pre-suspension levels by the end of 2026 under a new multi-partner model.
The group invested $1.75 billion in capital expenditure, excluding leases, during the nine-month period, with spending focused on expanding network coverage and infrastructure in Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda.
MTN said it would continue to focus on sustaining growth in its major markets, improving cash generation and maintaining cost discipline in the final quarter of the year.
