MTN Group Exits Yemen Leaving Behind Millions of Subscribers

MTN Group announced today that it is ceasing operations in Yemen, in the Middle East. The company has been steadily withdrawing from its Middle Eastern operations, having left Syria in August due to “intolerable” operating conditions. MTN is also in talks to sell its operations in Afghanistan.

MTN’s exit from Yemen, according to the company, is a transaction that furthers the delivery of its ‘Ambition 2025 strategy’ and is in line with its intention – first announced in August 2020 – to exit the Middle East completely.

In August 2020, the MTN Group announced plans to focus on its pan-African strategy rather than other regions, and to exit the Middle East in the medium term, simplifying its portfolio and reducing risk as the region becomes increasingly volatile.

According to the Group, MTN Yemen contributed 0.3 percent of MTN Group EBITDA in the first half of 2021. MTN Group owned 82.8 percent of MTN Yemen, whose operating licence for its 2G network is set to expire at the end of 2021.

MTN Group transferred its majority stake in MTN Yemen to Emerald International Investment LCC on November 17, 2021. Emerald is a subsidiary of Zubair Investment Center LLC, which is a subsidiary of Zubair Corporation LLC, a minority shareholder in MTN Yemen.

“The decision to exit Yemen was motivated by the need to simplify the portfolio and focus our limited resources on executing a pan-African strategy,” MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita said.

“We would like to thank the 719 MTN Yemen employees for their dedication over the years,” he added. Mupita also thanked MTN Yemen’s 4.7 million subscribers, who will switch to Emerald’s services once the Big Yellow Brand leaves the country.

“We wish Emerald well as they work with the team that has served MTN well over the years,” Mupita says.