Afrobility: Africa Tech and Business

#10: MTN - How Africa's largest Telco grew to dominate Africa and expand to other emerging markets

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about MTN - The largest telco in Africa, we’ll discuss its founding, early history, success in Africa, global expansion, diversification into non-telco businesses & future outlook

Companies discussed: MTN Group (M-Cell, MTN Nigeria, MTN Irancell), Investcom, Telkom, Vodafone (Vodacom & Safaricom), Naspers (Multichoice, M-Net) & Transsion

 

Business concepts discussed: Telco diversification, Telco license acquisition strategy, Fintech services, messaging platforms, conglomerates, government private sector influence & developing markets expansion.

 

Conversation highlights:

  • (01:03) - Why we’re talking about MTN today
  • (03:34) - MTN's founding, early history and context
  • (10:15) - MTN’s African expansion strategy 1997+
  • (12:20) - MTN's expansion into Nigeria, market share and controversies
  • (24:42) - Global expansion into Iran and M&A with Investcom
  • (28:14) - Expansion strategy (compared to other African telcos)
  • (30:30) - Why MTN was successful expanding outside Africa
  • (33:30) - MTN’s non-telco businesses
  • (43:40) - MTN 2020 asset sales and refocus on Africa business
  • (45:20) - MTN today - financials, segment growth, etc
  • (48:00) - Why MTN wants to leave the Middle East 
  • (51:20) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
  • (55:04) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
  • (61:40) - Olumide’s recommendations and small wins
  • (65:22) - Bankole’s recommendations and small wins


    • Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

    • Recommendation: Something Ventured (2011 Documentary about the origin of the VC industry)
    • Recommendation: My life philosophy (JD Roth)
    • Recommendation: Unusual ideas about self-care (by Paula Pant)
    • Small win: Amazon Fresh Prime for groceries (reminds of 2010 when I used to order groceries from Tesco in the UK)


      • Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

      • Recommendation: Collection of notable essays in Notion - Link
      • Small win: Daily long walks
      • Other content mentioned: South Africa's MTN asks U.S. court to dismiss anti-terrorism case in Afghanistan - Reuters
      • Other content mentioned: How an African telecom allegedly bribed its way into Iran - Reuters


        • We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email [email protected]

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        Afrobility: Africa Tech and BusinessBy Olumide Ogunsanwo and Bankole Makanju
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