MTN Group has positioned partnerships between governments, private sector players, and global institutions as vital to driving Africa’s sustainable growth and digital inclusion.
The company made the call during CNN International’s inaugural Global Perspectives event in London, where it served as a key sponsor.
“We are getting to a space where, without partnership and working together, not only with our competitors, but also with other investors, with government, as well as even multilateral agencies and development fund providers, we are simply not going to be able to cover the next one billion people,” said MTN Group Vice President for Ghana and Southern and East Africa, Ebenezer Asante.
Asante was referring to the roughly one billion Africans who are still excluded from mobile internet access.
- Advertisement -
According to the International Telecommunication Union, only 38% of Africa’s population was online in 2024, compared to a global average of 68%. The GSMA estimates that bridging this gap could add as much as US$700 billion to sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP by 2030.
“We require smart regulations,” Asante added. “We require to bring the cost of deployment way lower than where it is today. That speaks to innovation, it speaks to partnership. We also require to build talent and skills.”
MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile network operator with more than 300 million subscribers, continues to expand its digital and financial services. In the first half of 2025, its 63 million active Mobile Money (MoMo) users conducted over 11 billion transactions worth more than US$212 billion
Speaking on the role of Fintech in Africa’s economic transformation, MTN Group Fintech CEO Serigne Dioum said the sector is helping to scale startups, bridge funding gaps, and formalise informal economies across borders. He also highlighted the need for collaboration with regulators and development partners.
“Us and regulators, we have the same vision, the same objective. We want to drive financial inclusion, we want people to get more dignity,” Dioum said during a panel on fuelling the next-generation startup ecosystem. “What is more important than financial inclusion, is for people to be independent financially.”
