MTN Rwanda Grows Mobile Money Users By ~15% (4.4 Million) in H1 2023

In its latest result for the first half of 2023, Rwanda’s leading mobile carrier, MTN, has increased the number of people using its MoMo (Mobile Money) product to 4.4 million.

This represents a 14.9% growth from 3.9 million users at a similar juncture in H1 2022.

• The company observed an increase in its service revenue, rising from Rwf 105 million (equivalent to approximately $89,000) in H1 2022 to Rwf 120 million (equivalent to about $102,000) in H12023. Service revenue pertains to the earnings generated from its operational activities or business division.
• The telecommunications company also experienced a rise in the count of mobile subscribers. As outlined in the report, it reached a total of 7 million subscribers during the assessed period. Comparing this with the previous figure of 6.6 million, there was a notable year-on-year (YoY) growth of 6%.
• The number of active data subscribers also saw an increase, moving from 2.2 million to 2.3 million, indicating a 5.1% year-on-year (YoY) difference.

“Smartphone penetration increased by 3 pp to 24.5 % as we continue to promote and enhance our campaign offerings,” the financial results indicate.

Nonetheless, profits experienced a significant decline of 43.2%, decreasing from $2.6 million to $1.5 million in comparison to the corresponding period from the previous year. This decline was primarily attributed to the depreciation of the Rwanda Franc against the US dollar, as well as a substantial reduction in revenue from voice calls.

“Macroeconomic conditions remain elevated with the inflation rate gradually reducing in the first half year 2023 by 7.9 pp (percentage points) to 13.7 per cent, driven by the government’s fiscal and monetary interventions,” said Mapula Bodibe, MTN Rwanda CEO in a statement.

“Despite navigating these challenges, our unwavering focus remains on implementing our Ambition 2025 strategy, propelling growth and fortifying our position as a leading telecommunications provider,” she added.

According to Bodibe, the company is focused on the growth of MoMo as a fintech offering to clients and its increased usage can serve economic benefits for the East African nation of 13.46 million people.

MoMo, which was launched in 2019 by MTN, is currently operational in 16 African countries, and according to the giant telco, it is already the leading mobile money service in Africa, having surpassed rivals when it hit 56.8 million users in early 2022.

The numbers in Rwanda, let alone other markets means that the service has a high ceiling, compared to rivals like Kenya’s Safaricom MTN plans to grow its fintech business to contribute at least 20% of the Group service revenue by 2025.