MTN Rwandacell Plc (MTN Rwanda), under the able leadership of Chief Executive Mr. Monzer Ali, has announced a significant recovery and strong commercial momentum in its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended 31 March 2025.
Despite aggressive competitive pressures, the company’s focus on its fintech and data platform businesses delivered resilient subscriber growth and a major turnaround in profitability.
According to a financial report released by the company today, service revenue surged, largely mitigating the headwinds posed by market competition and resulting in a strong recovery in Profit After Tax (PAT).
Financial and Operational Highlights
MTN Rwanda recorded robust growth across key financial and operational metrics, driven by solid execution of its strategy; check the illustration below:
Data and Fintech as Twin Engines of Growth
The results highlight a clear shift in revenue composition, underscoring the success of MTN’s Ambition 2025 strategy in promoting digital and financial inclusion.
Fintech Dominance (Mobile Money – MoMo)
MoMo Revenue: Delivered strong growth of 28.0% YoY, making it the single largest contributor to the business.
Advanced Services: This growth was fuelled by a robust 44.2% expansion in advanced services revenue, including merchant payments and remittance products.
Revenue Contribution: MoMo’s contribution to total service revenue sharply increased to 49.1% (up from 43.0% in Q1 2024), demonstrating successful diversification beyond traditional voice services.
Data Resurgence Amidst Competition
Traffic Surge vs. Subscriber Drop: Despite an 8.2% decrease in active data subscribers due to aggressive competitor bundle pricing, MTN managed a significant 33.6% growth in data traffic.
Data Revenue Growth: This surging demand, supported by optimised pricing, translated into a 12.2% YoY growth in Data Revenue.
Smart Device Penetration
The number of smartphones connected to the network rose by 21.4% YoY to 3.2 million, pushing smartphone penetration up by 6.4 percentage points (pp) to 41.8%. This indicates consumers are actively seeking connectivity, driving consumption despite pricing challenges.
Voice Decline
Conversely, Voice revenues recorded a 6.4% YoY decline, reflecting intense pricing pressures in the core connectivity segment. The segment’s contribution to total service revenue declined to 23.5% (from 28.2% in Q1 2024).
CEO Perspective and Strategic Outlook
Speaking about the company’s impressive performance, Mr. Ali expressed encouragement regarding the future operations of MTN Rwanda, saying:
“We are encouraged by the recovery of our business during Q1, despite the continued aggressive competitive dynamics in the market, underpinned by solid operational execution and a supportive macroeconomic environment.”
He noted that while the Rwandan Franc depreciation moderated and urban inflation remained within the Central Bank’s target, challenges persisted due to competitor aggression. He said MTN managed to recover lost ground through “continued investment in our networks and compelling offers to our customers.”
Commitment to Ambition 2025:
Looking ahead, MTN Rwanda affirmed its commitment to the Ambition 2025 strategy, with a focus on:
Commercial expansion in data and fintech.
Cost control and operational efficiency.
Enhancing agility to respond faster to market dynamics.
Social Impact
As part of its commitment to creating shared value, MTN Rwanda awarded Rwf 14.5 million to outstanding participants in the 4th edition of the Level Up Your Biz Initiative, a corporate social investment program designed to empower SMEs and agents with essential business skills, further driving socioeconomic development.