Online gambling has emerged as a surprising drag on MTN South Africa’s prepaid business, with the parent group citing the surge in betting activity as a key reason its local mobile arm is struggling to grow.
In its 2025 integrated report, published on Wednesday, MTN said muted prepaid growth in South Africa “is exacerbated by the growing share of disposable income that is being spent on online gambling”. The company also flagged competition from mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) as a feature of the local pricing environment.
MTN South Africa lagged badly behind the rest of MTN Group’s portfolio in the 2025 financial year, which ended on 31 December. The local operation managed service revenue growth of just 2%, against group constant-currency service revenue growth of 22.7%. MTN Nigeria grew at 54.9% and MTN Ghana at 35.9% on the same basis.
MTN South Africa’s fintech revenue declined 8.4% in the year, digital revenue fell 3.2% and voice revenue dropped 4.2%. Data revenue – the only consumer-facing segment showing meaningful momentum – grew 4.5%. Enterprise service revenue, more insulated from consumer wallet pressure, increased by 13.6%.
The combined effect was a 10.2% decline in MTN South Africa’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) – or 10.1% excluding a loss on the disposal of towers. The Ebitda margin contracted 2.9 percentage points to 34.5%.
Top priority
The group has now placed “restoring profitable growth of prepaid in South Africa” alongside fintech execution as one of MTN’s top priorities for 2026. It said overall macroeconomic pressures and competition for consumer wallet share “continue to exacerbate the persistent competitive intensity in the South African telecoms sector”.
MTN South Africa’s 2026 plan, according to the report, will lean on refined regional offers, more granular bundle-pricing personalisation and channel optimisation. Home connectivity is expected to be a key growth driver, with a focus on expanding fixed-wireless access and fibre-to-the-home uptake.
Read: MTN lobs a grenade into SA’s mobile market with Pi launch
MTN South Africa raised prices in February 2025, the report said, and is positioning post-paid contracts as a more resilient pocket of growth – although the company conceded that MVNOs “have continued to be a feature in the competitive and pricing environments”.
Ferdi Moolman, a former CEO of MTN Nigeria, took over as CEO of MTN South Africa late in 2025, replacing Charles Molapisi, who was named group chief technology and information officer.
For the broader MTN Group, 2025 was a year of strong delivery. Service revenue grew 22.7% in constant currency to R218.5-billion – the strongest topline growth the group has reported in over a decade. Ebitda before once-off items rose 36.8% in constant currency to R98.5-billion, with the margin expanding 5.4 percentage points to 44.5%. Operating free cash flow before spectrum and licence payments climbed 81.7% to R57.1-billion.
The contrast with the South African performance is stark – and explains why fixing prepaid in MTN’s home market has been elevated to a board-level priority. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media
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