MTN Group CEO, Ralph Mupita was in Ghana for the 3rd time last week. After meeting with the telecommunication company’s key stakeholders, Mr. Mupita also met with some Ghanaian journalists and editors.
Host of Citi FM‘s morning show and the Point of View on Citi TV, Mr. Bernard Avle interviewed Mr. Mupita on a wide range of issues which included the quality of the company’s network service, the impact of Government’s Electronic Transfer levy and the company’s 2021 financial report.
Here are 5 key things, Mr. Ralph Mupita touched on:
Ghana is the 3rd largest market in MTN Group’s portfolio
Mr. Ralph Mupita explained that Ghana’s vibrant democracy, together with the vibrancy around the country’s talent pool and the entrepreneurship drive of the people, makes Ghana a unique marketplace for business.
Mr. Ralph Mupita disclosed that Ghana ranked the 3rd largest market within the MTN Group portfolio and the best merchant ecosystem for the business.
He added, “We learn from what’s happening in Ghana, and we try to replicate it elsewhere”.
“We have a continuous program of our priority market, Ghana [is the] 3rd largest in the MTN Portfolio, so there’s always a reason to be here and to understand what is going on, occasioned by the challenges going on,” he said.
Long-term investment was key to MTN’s success amid COVID
The Group CEO of MTN, Mr. Mupita also dispelled claims that his company sort to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking on the Telecommunications company’s 2021 financial result, Mr. Mupita explained that the work that went into building the company’s networks, together with diligently managing its expenses, were the reasons for the company’s positive financial returns during the pandemic.
Mr. Mupita added that the company, in an attempt to give back to society, also provided vaccines to countries and ensured the zero-rating of some sites and critical services for schools and other essential services.
“Every year, we put in enormous amount of capital to sustain our networks and make sure they are high quality… We had largely built our networks sufficiently, to enable people work from home, and therefore carry on their economic activities…We, in many respects, having invested early, enabled the economies to carry on. We have been managing our expenses very well. There was a confluence of things that gave us very good results, but it wasn’t a short term thing.”
“We understand our role in society more deeply and hence our decision we took, to provide vaccines, (worth $25 million) and the second thing is we zero-rated many sites and services,” he said.
MTN’s role in addressing Ghana’s exchange rate problems
When asked about Ghana’s Cedi depreciation and the repatriation of the company’s profits, Mr. Mupita said MTN is not “oblivious of the fact that we have a big business and that any dividends and capital repatriation can have some impact”.
“We have ongoing discussions with the Bank of Ghana to ensure MTN does not repatriate in a way that is disturbing to the country’s currency and economy.”
‘It’s too early to assess impact of E-Levy’ – MTN Group CEO
Speaking on Government’s introduction of the Electronic Transfer Tax, Mr. Ralph Mupita explained that the MTN Group recognises the enormous challenge and burden Government has to balance the budget, however, he was of the view that it was a little too early to assess the impact the tax is going to have on the company.
According to him, in 6 months, the MTN Group will have more data to effectively speak on the impact of the E-levy.
Mr. Mupita assured the public of MTN’s continuous investment in the expansion of the country’s digital ecosystem to enable e-commerce and enable payments, although he admits that will mean some short-term pressure on revenue generation.
Commitment to driving financial inclusion
Mr. Ralph Mupita explained that the MTN Group is currently satisfied with the mobile money licence. According to him, the MTN Group will at the appropriate time engage with Bank of Ghana authorities and other relevant stakeholders if there was a need to engage in a different financial inclusion initiative
“We are happy with the e-money license that we have right now. But if ever a time came, and they wanted to have a different kind of license regime, we will talk to the authorities. But it is not something that is on top of our minds right now. Our commitment to driving financial inclusion remains undiminished,” he said.
Watch his interaction with the media here:
