MTN Rwanda reaffirms guidance after strong first half

MTN Rwanda has reported a strong first half, with robust momentum across all revenue segments and as benefits of expense efficiencies it has implemented started to bear fruit.

The increased earnings came as the Rwandan economy delivered growth of 10% in the first quarter of 2026, with information and communication services contributing the highest growth in percentage terms of 22% year on year.

MTN Group’s Rwandan business reported a 21.5% rise in revenue to 168.6-billion Rwandan francs (R1.86bn) for the six months to end-June, with service revenue up 22% to 167.4-billion Rwandan francs, underpinned by double-digit revenue growth in the data and fintech businesses.

Subscriber numbers increased by 11.4% to reach 8.7-million, with active data subscribers growing by 14.5% to 2.7-million and active mobile money users increasing 14.9% to 6.4-million, it said on Tuesday.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) was up 30.4% to 70.5-billion Rwandan francs and profit after tax jumping 191.2% to 17.2-billion Rwandan francs.

CEO Monzer Ali said the group believes its customer value propositions will continue to drive usage and provide an opportunity for Rwandans to connect to the digital economy.

“Our fintech business remains a core growth pillar. We believe the launch of eKash will play a key part in accelerating financial inclusion and support the sustainable ecosystem growth over time,” he said.

Rwanda’s eKash is part of the country’s national digital payment system that allows MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) users to send and receive money directly to and from different bank accounts and other mobile wallets for a flat low fee.

“We will continue to roll out innovative advanced services across payments and bank tech which we expect to unlock greater value for customers while accelerating fintech ecosystem growth,” Ali said.

He said a continued focus on expense discipline and operational efficiencies will position the company to drive further improvements in earnings, cash flow and shareholder value.

The group reaffirmed its medium-term guidance of “mid-teens” service revenue growth and ebitda margins in the 40%-42% range with a capex intensity range of 7% to 10%.

MTN Rwanda is the last of MTN’s African units to report results. Nigeria , Uganda and Ghana reported earlier this month.

Earlier this month MTN Group said it expects its HEPS, which strips out the effect of one-off financial events, for the first half to be up to 10% lower at 580c to 645c. The group said it had experienced some pressure in the fintech unit, prepaid in South Africa, and took a write down in its Iran business.