Accra, Ghana//-Stephen Blewett has taken stock of his first year as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Ghana, with a focus on improving customer experience for the company’s 28. 5 million customers.
To this end, he pledged to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to enhance customer experience and customer satisfaction as well.
He assumed the CEO role of Scancom Ltd (MTN Ghana) effective April 1, 2024, following the departure of Selorm Adadevoh to MTN Group as the Chief Commercial Officer.
Mr Blewett admitted at an event to celebrate his one-year anniversary as the CEO of MTN Ghana that he took over at the time that the MTN Ghana was doing well.
He told editors and senior journalists at the event that he wanted “to take the company to the next level”.
True to his words, Mr Blewett under his stellar leadership, the telecoms giant has recorded significant results across all services of the company.
According to MTN Ghana’s 2024 annual report, the company reported an impressive 34.5% year-on-year increase in service revenue, which exceeded its guidance of high twenties growth for 2024.
This mid-thirty rise in service revenue was largely driven by a significant uptick in the company’s data services, Mobile Money (MoMo) services, and a diverse range of digital services.
The growth reflects not only the increasing demand from its customer base but also its strategic investments aimed at enhancing 4G connectivity, thereby improving customer acquisition and overall engagement.
In our commitment to network excellence, we invested GHS3.1 billion in ex-lease capex within the year to maintain high network quality, expand geographic coverage, and upgrade our technology infrastructure, he said.
This investment encompassed the modernisation of MTN Ghana’s IT systems, enabling it to handle rising data traffic more efficiently, noting that the company achieved substantial milestones in its technology modernisation initiatives, completing upgrades and technology swaps across the Greater Accra Region, which played a crucial role in its service delivery enhancements.
These strategic investments have paid off, culminating in MTN Ghana earning the top position in Net Promoter Score (NPS) within the telecommunications sector. Additionally, our customer base has seen a robust growth of 6.5% year-on-year, now totalling an impressive 28.5 million customers.
Data services
Data revenue saw significant growth, increasing by 53.8% year-on-year to GHS9.0 billion. This impressive increase was primarily fuelled by significant enhancements in network connectivity, which facilitated a 13.7% rise in active data subscribers, bringing the total active users to approximately 17.5 million.
Additionally, there was a 19.0% growth in the average megabytes consumed per active user each month, rising to an average of 10.2GB, indicating a deeper reliance on data services for daily activities.
The growing demand for data services was bolstered by a series of strategic commercial initiatives, including targeted bundles, marketing campaigns, and promotional offers that encouraged user participation.
Investments in state-of-the-art network infrastructure, particularly in expanding 4G-plus technologies, aimed at delivering high-speed data services, were pivotal for both residential and mobile users.
“Our ongoing commitment to developing relevant and well-optimized data packages, which included options tailored for specific consumer needs like family and business plans and non-expiry data offerings, significantly contributed to this growth in data revenue”.
As a result of these efforts, data traffic soared by an impressive 35.3% year-on-year. Furthermore, the share of data revenue in total service revenue showed a notable increase, rising from 43.9% to 50.2% year-on-year, underscoring the pivotal role of data services in our overall business strategy and financial performance.
Mobile Money services
Mobile Money revenue continued to showcase robust growth with a year-on-year increase of 54.4%, reaching a total of GHS4.4 billion. This impressive performance was supported by a 12.8% rise in active subscribers, highlighting effective user acquisition and retention strategies.
Additionally, a strategic revision of the fee structure played a significant role in boosting revenue. The platform experienced significant growth in transactional activities by 17.4% year-on-year.
Withdrawal revenue increased by 45.2% year-on-year, while transfer revenue also rose significantly by 44.6%, indicating heightened customer activity and a shift towards more seamless money movement.
The advanced services segment was the standout performer during this financial period, achieving an impressive growth rate of 82.8%. This significant increase was mainly driven by the success of payment solutions and innovative lending products, which meet the changing needs of users looking for tailored digital financial options.
As a result of these strong results, MoMo’s contribution to total service revenue increased by 3.2 percentage points, rising from 21.7% in the previous year to 24.9%. This increase signifies the growing importance of MoMo in our revenue diversification journey and highlights its potential for future growth.
Voice services
Voice revenue decreased by 0.9% year-on-year to GHS3.5 billion. This decline is largely due to a significant shift in customer behaviour from traditional phone calls to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.
This transition has been fuelled by rising data usage and the growing adoption of smartphones. Despite the decline in voice revenue, our dedication to providing a customer-focused value proposition, CVM initiatives and other portfolio optimization initiatives resulted in a 13.5% year-on-year increase in usage, as measured by minutes of use (MoU).
The growth in usage highlights our ability to engage customers more effectively, however, the revenue impact of this was tempered by the shift from a high effective price per minute to lower effective price propositions.
As a result of these trends, the proportion of voice revenue compared to total service revenue declined from 26.8% to 19.7%.
This change suggests that consumers are increasingly leaning towards data services and mobile financial services, which are becoming essential parts of MTN Ghana’s revenue portfolio.
