MTN

The MTN Group has announced that the successful launch of Mobile Money Transfer (MMT) in Uganda marks the beginning of a series of planned launches across its operations in Africa and Middle-East.

The product, called MTN MobileMoney, is a convenient, secure and affordable way for MTN subscribers to send money, buy airtime and pay bills using the mobile phone. Whether users have an existing bank account or not, they can register for MTN MobileMoney as long as the sender is an MTN subscriber. Those who do not have MTN SIM cards or even a phone can still receive money from MTN MobileMoney users and send money through a network of agents in their country.

MTN has been piloting MMT services through MTN Uganda and at the Group’s West and Central Africa (WECA) region operations (Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria) since October 2008. Four additional pilots were recently launched in Benin, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry and Liberia.

The pilots are aimed at waterproofing the systems and operational processes in preparation for the commercial launch. MTN’s WECA region vice-president, Mr Christian de Faria says the pilots are assisting with fine-tuning the processes and systems and have given MTN the first insights into subscriber demand. “Initial subscriber responses in the different countries have been encouraging and we are confident that the service could be introduced rapidly in our various markets.”

In each market, MTN has partnered with local banks to ensure that its MMT services are fully compliant with financial services regulations. Discussions are currently on-going with relevant authorities in various countries to ensure that all regulatory requirements are met.

Says MTN Group Executive, Corporate Affairs, Ms Nozipho January-Bardill: “The piloting of MTN’s MMT services reaffirms MTN’s leadership in telecommunications and the company’s commitment to providing products and services that meet customers’ needs and expectations. We believe our MMT offering will make money transfer and basic payments more convenient and more affordable to our subscribers. We acknowledge our partner banks and the banking regulators in our different markets for the enthusiasm and support they are giving us.”

ABOUT THE MTN GROUP
Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a multinational telecommunications group, operating in 21 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN”. As at 30 September 2008, MTN recorded 80,7 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. The MTN Group is a global sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ and has exclusive mobile content rights for Africa and the Middle East.

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This prestigious event was attended by 500 government, business, and media leaders from across Africa, Europe, Asia and the USA. The evening represented an ideal and unique opportunity to give global visibility to world-class African brands.

Collecting the award for Zain, Tito Alai, Chief Commercial Officer for Zain Group commented “Zain places a huge emphasis on Africa in achieving its 2011 targets of being a top-ten global mobile operator with 110 million customers.”

Alai further added, “This award is an achievement that represents our belief in the African continent and the potential that exists. Together with our partners and customers we are committed to building the African economic dream and developing telecommunications across the continent as no other telecom company has been able to do.”

The awards were co-hosted by the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) and African Business magazine. Notable VIPs such as Ephraim Inoni, Prime Minister of Cameroon; Bethuel Mosisili, Prime Minister of Lesotho; Senator Daggash, Nigeria’s Minister of National Planning; Neville Isdell, Chairman of Coca Cola; and other prominent diplomats and businessmen presented the Awards to the winners in a festive and memorable African night.

About Celtel & Zain
Zain is a leading emerging markets player in the field of telecommunications aiming to become one of the top ten mobile groups in the world by 2011. Zain was established in 1983 in Kuwait as the region’s first mobile operator. Since 2003, it has grown significantly becoming the 4th largest telecommunications company in the world in terms of geographic presence with a footprint in 22 countries spread across the Middle East and Africa providing mobile voice and data services to over 45.7 million active customers (as at 31 March 2008).

In the Middle East the company operates under the Zain brand name in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and Sudan. In Lebanon the company operates as mtc-touch. Zain plans to commence operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2008.

In Africa, Zain currently operates under the Celtel brand (www.celtel.com) in 14 sub-Saharan African countries namely: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The company’s mobile telecommunications operations in Ghana will begin in late 2008.

The Zain brand is wholly owned by Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC, which is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (Stock ticker: ZAIN). The company had a market capitalization of over US$ 27 billion on 30 June, 2008.

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