TechCabal Daily - MTN projects up to 10% revenue growth in Ivory Coast

MTN’s subsidiary in Ivory Coast could experience revenue growth by up to 10% this year relative to 2019, according to Djibril Ouattara, the subsidiary’s CEO.

Ouattara told Reuters that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a 35% boost in data traffic and that the company expects that to contribute to increasing the $545 million revenue recorded last year.

The growth in data traffic is
happening in MTN’s other markets. In Nigeria, the company’s data revenue increased by 59.2% in Q1 2020 as they added 1.7 million active data subscribers.

To take advantage of the growing use of data services, the group as a whole is expected to increase its infrastructure commitments in each of its markets. In Ivory Coast, Ouattara says they will invest 40 billion francs ($72.69 million) to strengthen its networks for better service delivery.

27% of mobile technology connections in Africa will be of the 4G variety by 2025. At present, 4G penetration stands at 10% as 3G reigns supreme accounting for 46% of connections.

According to GSMA’s Global Mobile Economy 2020 report, Africa will be one of the fastest growing regions for mobile technology. GSMA projects that 142 million mobile subscribers will be added over 5 years even as mobile subscriber penetration is expected to grow to 55%.

Despite the growth anticipated for 4G and the broadening of 5G’s potential, Africa will still be a largely 3G continent in 2025, accounting for 58% of mobile connections. Find the full report here.

Momentum Metropolitan, a South African financial services company, announced that it suffered a cyber attack that was discovered on the 13th of August 2020. The company is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Namibian Stock Exchange but they have yet to disclose which of their subsidiaries were affected, or the extent to which customers were exposed.

It’s the second acknowledgement of a cyber attack by a South African company in as many months, according to iAfrikan, after Life Healthcare Group reported a breach to its admission systems and e-mail services.

In Nigeria, cyber attacks tend to go unreported for a variety of reasons, mostly due to trust issues.