MTN Guinea-Conakry offices sealed by regulator for license fees non-payment

MTN's offices in Guinea-Conakry have been sealed by the local post and telecommunications regulator (Authorité de Régulation des Postes et Télécommunications or ARPT) over a licensing payment issue.

MTN Group confirmed with Connecting Africa that its premises in Almamyah and Coleah were sealed by ARPT on December 29, 2023.

"This action followed various discussions with the regulator related to the payments for MTN Guinea-Conakry's licence fees. The business continues to engage with the regulator to reach a speedy resolution," MTN said via email.

MTN entered the Guinean market when it bought the Areeba brand from Lebanese operator Investcom in 2007.

The operator's financial statements for 2021 showed that its telecoms license had expired, and the government granted a new license effective February 4, 2022.

It was due to pay US$55 million for that ten-year license – payable over four years – and the license covers 2G, 3G and 4G services.

MTN did not respond to questions about how much the Guinea operation owed the regulator for the license fees or how far behind it was in its payments.

ARPT did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.

MTN previously had some troubles in Guinea-Conakry over its license back in 2011 and Reuters reported that MTN would pay the government of Guinea €15 million ($21.57 million at the time) to resolve the issue.

MTN Guinea also posted an update on its X profile confirming the closure of its offices by the regulator "for non-payment."

It said that MTN Guinea management has taken steps and started negotiations with the authorities to resolve the situation quickly.

It also reassured clients and partners that it would coordinate with the authorities to ensure normal functioning of its networks and the continuity of operations in the country.

MTN Guinea-Conakry said it will update all stakeholders as the situation develops.

MTN plans exit

Its unclear how the licensing payment issue will impact the potential sale of MTN Guinea-Conakry to operator Axian Telecom.

In May 2023 MTN Group said it was considering selling its operations in Guinea-Conakry, Guinea-Bissau and Liberia after receiving an offer for its equity interests in the three opcos from Axian.

Axian is looking to expand its presence in Africa and in April 2022, a consortium led by the group bought operator Tigo Tanzania in a deal worth $100 million.

Today MTN Group confirmed that it was evaluating orderly exits of some of its West African markets, including MTN Guinea-Conakry.

At the end of March 2023, the combined subscriber base of MTN Guinea-Bissau, MTN Guinea-Conakry and MTN Liberia represented approximately 6.1 million of the Group's total 291 million subscribers, and contributed just 0.7% to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).

In West Africa MTN also operates in Ghana, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin and Nigeria – its biggest operation on the continent.

MTN is the second biggest telco in Guinea-Conakry out of three mobile operators. (Source: Image by senivpetro on Freepik)

MTN had almost 3.3 million mobile users in Guinea-Conakry at the end of September 2023, according to statistics from market research company Omdia, a sister company of Connecting Africa.

This makes it the second biggest operator in the country with about 23.5% market share compared to leading operator Orange, which had 69% of the market, and third placed Cellcom, with just 7.5% market share.

Since August 2020, MTN has also been working towards an orderly exit out of the Middle East.

Follow Connecting Africa on our new X account @connect__africa to get the latest telecoms and tech news across Africa.

It sold its Yemen business in November 2021, abandoned its telecoms operation in Syria in August 2021 and is in the process of selling its Afghanistan business to Beirut-based M1 New Ventures.

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*Top image source: MTN Group.

— Paula Gilbert, Editor, Connecting Africa