AFRICA – MTN Group, the world’s eighth largest mobile network operator, has been named the most valuable African brand by Brand Finance Africa, one of the world’s leading independent brand valuation consultancy.

MTN Group with an estimated Brand value of US$3.3 billion emerged the top brand in Africa but was not able to enter the exclusive list of the top 500 most valuable companies in the world.

Brand value is the net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market.

According to a survey conducted by Brand Finance Africa in 2020, the MTN Group, “Africa’s largest mobile operator has celebrated solid profits and impressive subscriber growth.”

The survey assessed the impact of COVID-19 on the enterprise value of all brands in its survey, compared to their values on January 1, 2020.

It categorized the telecoms sector as ‘limited impact’, which it said meant “minimal brand value loss or potential brand value growth”.

This was due to the increasingly important role that mobile operators have played in keeping people connected in the time of the pandemic.

Brand Finance also named MTN Group as the most valuable South African brand, a result of the group’s focus on improving the customer experience for subscribers.

Brand Finance also highlighted the telecoms effort to unite its 19,000 employees around a shared belief, which is that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life as another critical factor in its valuation.

As of the 4th quarter of 2019, the MTN Group had a subscriber base of more than 250 million and was active in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East.

17 of the 21 countries where MTN has a presence are in Africa and the South Africa based teleco has a market share of more than 50% in ten of those markets and of more than 30% in another six markets.

Only in South Africa does the operator’s share dip under the 30% mark, at 26.27%.

Countries where MTN has a particularly high market share include eSwatini (84.72%); South Sudan (60.64%); Guinea-Bissau (59.78%); Ghana (55.97%); Uganda (55.13%); Rwanda (54.61%); Benin (54.60%); Congo-Brazzaville (54.24); and Nigeria (50.49%).

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