Ugandans on average transacted UGX 159 trillion on MTN Mobile Money, which translated to UGX 435 billion per day for the 12 months to December 2024.
Details contained in the telco’s financials further indicate that at least 11.8 million transactions are conducted per day through MTN mobile money, which translates into a total volume of 4.3 billion transactions in the period under review.
The UGX 159 trillion transaction presents a 19.1% growth compared to the UGX 133.2 trillion transacted in the same period in 2023.
The growth suggests rapid adoption of financial technology that offers payment alternatives, money transfer, credit and saving options.
Mobile money has become a key revenue for MTN, which together with Xtratime, a credit product under the Fintech segment contributed a combined UGX 947 billion to the company’s 3.2 trillion total earnings, compared to UGX 771 billion recorded in 2023.
The growth in mobile money revenues was largely due to increase in the telco’s fintech customer numbers, which in the 12 months rose to 13.8 million, representing a growth of 13.9% from 12.1 million subscribers.
MTN also indicated that during the period, it refined its standards for merchant activities, which resulted in a growth of 19.6% to 85,900 in 2024 from 71,900, supported by strategic investments in regional acquisition and merchant quality management.
Agents also increased by 36.8% to 213000.
Airtel, Quality Chemicals, Stanbic Uganda and Bank of Baroda Make It to Crested Capital's Q1 2025 Black Diamonds ListMTN registered double digit growth across all revenue lines with profits after tax growing by 30.1 % to UGX 641 billion, supported by service revenue growth, which rose by 19.5% to UGX 3.2 trillion from UGX 2.6 trillion due to significant expansions in data and fintech offerings, solid commercial momentum executed in 2024 on the back of dynamic customer acquisition, refreshed value propositions and continued network infrastructure improvement.
Voice revenue, which increased by 12.7% to UGX 1.2 trillion from UGX 1.1 trillion, continues to be MTN’s cash cow, boosted by a 13.2% growth in voice subscribers, which rose by a net addition of 2.6 million to 22 million.
Data revenue grew by 30.5% to UGX 811 billion from UGX 621 billion underpinned by a 22.4% expansion in data subscribers to 10.1 million and a 30% increase in smartphones on the network, boosted by the telco’s device financing programme and continued investment in 4G LTE and 5G sites.
However, MTN registered a 16.9 percent growth in operating expenses from UGX 1.2 trillion to UGX 1.5 trillion driven by direct network operations, government regulation, marketing, employee benefits and expansion-related costs.
The telco also reported a debt UGX 1.24 trillion on its books, noting that at the beginning of the year, it had secured UGX 370 billion in debt financing, one of the largest local currency debt transactions for additional investment in infrastructure
In terms of tax contribution, MTN paid UGX 1.3 trillion in taxes, and noted that it continues to cooperate with Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) over an investigative audit over the telecom sector tax compliance between 2018 and 2022.
The improved performance has seen the telco propose a final dividend of UGX 8.5 per share, which will see at least UGX 190 billion committed to shareholders on the company’s books as of 31 December 2024.