MTN Group SWOT and PESTLE Analysis

Strength

1. Strong brand with largest market share in 15 countries: MTN is a top global brand and features regularly in top 500 global brands. It was also South Africa’s most valuable brand as of 2016, for a fourth consecutive year. MTN’s excellent network coverage and high capacity has proved to be a key differentiator which has helped it to achieve number one operator in 15 out of 22 markets it operated in 2015.

2. Huge subscriber base with more than 230 mn customers: It offers segmented voice and data services to more than 234 million subscribers across 22 markets as of Q3 2016. However, with the SIM registration mandate in Nigeria, there was a temporary 6.9% fall in users to 57.04 million in the country in Q1 2016 which again improved by Q3 2016 to almost 60.5 million subscribers. With close to 52 million 3G-enabled devices on network, MTN is continuing to invest and expand its 3G and LTE networks and the overall growth prospects in its major markets seem bright over the next 4 years.

3. Comprehensive range of innovative products and services: MTN offers its customers a complete range of services. MTN has more than 80 companies providing 5000 content services under its lifestyle offerings and it is the largest distributor of music in Africa. Its joint venture (JV) with Middle East Internet Holding (MEIH) is an e-commerce start-up which aims to establish its base in the attractive Middle East markets. Its JV with Africa Internet Holding (AIH) is making steady progress and clocked 4.4 million transactions in 2015 with more than 2.3 million customers on-board. MTN Mobile Money an e-wallet had 35 million across 15 countries as of 2015.

Weakness

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Opportunity

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Threat

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Political

1. Political turmoil, terrorism threat and unrest across MENA Markets may impact MTN business growth: Middle East and Africa (EMEA) is a major market for MTN and several countries in the region have also been impacted by civilian unrest and terrorism impacting business. Syria is undergoing a civil war which is in its 6th year so is Yemen with the civil war having destroyed the country. The recent blockade of Qatar by other GCC nations also complicates the stability of the GCC region. The increasing threats are increasing the business risk and may impact MTN’s growth.

Economic

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Social

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Technological

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Legal

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Environmental

1. Implementation of alternative energy mechanisms: Implementation of alternative energy mechanisms helps organizations to increase efficiency, decease costs and also importantly decreased its exposure to carbon tax. As of FY16, MTN has covered a total of 10,454 sites, data center switches, hubs and offices where implementation of energy-efficiency solutions had been implemented. Further MTN also owns and maintains a total of 340 solar and solar-hybrid sites.

2. E-waste management initiatives: MTN is working towards e-waste management and green infrastructure to reduce non-renewable waste. In FY16, MTN recycled 537 tons of e-waste, 1808 tons of waste and saved 15,646 kg of paper. In an initiatives to strengthen the e-waste awareness and collection, MTN has partnered with Ericsson in Benin, leveraging Ericsson's global Ecology Management Product Take-Back Program.