MTN warns that gambling is hurting its prepaid business in South Africa

online gambling is MTN emerged as a surprise drag on South Africa's prepaid business, with the parent group citing increased betting activity as the main reason its local mobile arm was struggling to grow.

In its 2025 integrated report published on Wednesday, MTN said slow prepaid growth in South Africa was “exacerbated by the increasing share of disposable income spent on online gambling”. The company also identified competition from mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) as a feature of the local pricing environment.

MTN South Africa badly lagged the rest of the MTN Group portfolio in the 2025 financial year ending December 31. Local operations only managed service revenue growth of 2%, compared to the group's constant-currency service revenue growth of 22.7%. On this basis, MTN Nigeria grew by 54.9% and MTN Ghana grew by 35.9%.

MTN South Africa's fintech revenues declined 8.4% in the year, digital revenues declined 3.2% and voice revenues declined 4.2%. Data revenue – the only consumer-facing segment to show meaningful momentum – grew 4.5%. Enterprise services revenue, more insulated from consumer wallet pressure, increased 13.6%.

The combined effect was a 10.2% decline in MTN South Africa's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) – or 10.1% excluding losses on disposal of the towers. EBITDA margin declined 2.9 percentage points to 34.5%.

highest priority

The group has now placed “restoring prepaid growth in South Africa” along with fintech execution as one of MTN’s top priorities for 2026. It said overall macroeconomic pressures and competition for consumer wallet share are “continuing to drive competitive intensity in the South African telecommunications sector”.

According to the report, MTN South Africa's 2026 plan will rely on refined regional offerings, more detailed bundled-pricing personalization and channel optimization. Home connectivity is expected to be a major growth driver, with a focus on expanding fixed-wireless access and fiber-to-the-home uptake.

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The report said MTN South Africa raised prices in February 2025, and is introducing post-paid contracts as a more flexible pocket of growth – although the company acknowledged that MVNOs “remain a feature in the competitive and pricing environment”.

ferdi moolmanThe former CEO of MTN Nigeria takes over as CEO of MTN South Africa at the end of 2025, replacing Charles Molapisi, who was named Group Chief Technology and Information Officer.

For the wider MTN Group, 2025 was a year of strong delivery. Services revenue rose 22.7% in constant currency to R218.5-billion – the strongest topline growth recorded by the group in more than a decade. Ebitda before one-off items increased 36.8% in constant currency to R98.5-billion, with margins expanding 5.4 percentage points to 44.5%. Operating free cash flow before spectrum and license payments increased 81.7% to R57.1-billion.

The contrast with South African performance is stark – and explains why fixing prepaid in MTN's home market has been elevated to a board level priority. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media