http://business.peacefmonline.com/news/201001/36234.php

The MTN Group has confirmed that the Head office of the West and Central Africa (WECA) region would to be located in Ghana, a statement in Accra said on Monday.

The WECA regional office comprises of nine operating units - Nigeria, Benin, Cote D'Ivoire Liberia, Cameroon, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Congo Brazzaville and Ghana.

Ms. Mawuena Adjo Dumor, Corporate Service Executive of MTN Ghana, said Ghana was chosen because of its friendly business environment among other things.

She said the WECA headquarters would be located at MTN Ghana's head office in Accra and would be the administrative hub of the nine countries that constituted the WECA region.

Hitherto, the WECA regional office director, Mr. Christian De Faria, who is also Vice President of the region, did not have a stable office so had been moving from country to country to do his work, but he would now work from Ghana.

"The establishment of the office in Ghana provides enormous benefits not only to our business but to the country and we are excited to be hosting it," Ms Dumor said.

She said the benefits include leveraging economies of scale in respect of supply of telecoms infrastructure across the region, which will have positive implications for the national agenda to make Ghana the gateway to West Africa.

Ms Dumor said it would also create opportunities to apply Ghanaian knowledge, expertise and experience to other MTN operating units' technical and stakeholder engagement initiatives.

Ghana has been recognized at the MTN Group level for execution excellence in Marketing and Social Responsibility.

"Indeed the Ghana operating unit continues to support knowledge sharing in these key areas of the business," Ms Dumor said.

There are three Regional Offices within the MTN Group - the WECA regional office; the South East Africa (SEA) regional office; and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regional office.

The MTN Group recorded 108 million subscribers at the close of September 30, 2009, out of which the WECA region made a very significant contribution.

In Ghana MTN is the market leader, commanding some eight million out of the close to 15 million mobile phone subscribers in the country, representing over 54 per cent market share.

The MTN Group is a global sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup slated for June in South Africa.


Addendum

Daily Independent (Lagos)
Africa: MTN Subscriber Base Hits 100 Million, Country Contributes 25 Percent

Aaron Ukodie

7 May 2009


The MTN Group has reached the 100 million subscriber mark in its drive to become the world's leading telecommunications service provider in emerging markets, according to official figures released on Wednesday.

With a telecommunications network that covers a population of approximately 500 million, the 100 million subscriber achievement means that 1 in 5 people in MTN's 21 markets in Africa and the Middle East is an MTN subscriber.

Nigeria's subscriber base rose by 12 percent, from 23.077 million in December 2008 to 25.908 million in March 2009. The figure represents 59 of the 44.2 million MTN lines in West Africa and 25 percent of the group total subscriber base.

The Group recorded 98,203,000 subscribers at 31 March 2009 - up 8 percent from 31 December 2008 - touching the all-important 100 million mark in April this year as the telecoms operator signed up more customers.

Virtually in all the countries that MTN operates, the monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) plunged by an average of 20 per cent between December 2008 and March 2009.

Benin Republic and Nigeria's ARPU are still the highest in Africa, even though it plunged from $17 in December 2008 to $13 as at March 2009.

South and East Africa (SEA) region contributed 26 percent of the Group's total subscribers while West and Central Africa (WECA) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) contributed 45 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.
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MTN Group President and CEO Mr. Phuthuma Nhleko said: "For a 15-year-old company operating amid increased competitive intensity in all its markets, this is a most satisfactory performance by MTN. This affirms our leadership position in many areas of our business."

"MTN's success is also attributable to a business model that has included sound financial investment, strong corporate governance, effective management and corporate social responsibility," explained Mr. Nhleko.

He paid tribute to MTN's culturally diverse staff of over 40 nationalities across the company's markets, saying their "can-do" spirit and "innovative mindset" had placed the MTN Group in a strong competitive position.

One thing we have to realise every private business is profit driven and if the operating cost is lesser in Ghana so be it . The fact of the matter the cost of doing business in Nigeria is astronomically high and also Ghana remains the in thing happening in the west africa region with very good favourable conditions

Away from the fuss and hype of King Yar'Adua alleged death.The question of Nigeria's relevance is being played out by MTN.Read through the post and realize that it is a complete insult for MTN to locate their head office away from Nigeria because of what they call "friendly business climate" in Accra.Nigeria  contributes over 59percent of its total subscribes base in the region in question.Do we know how jobs these insane people have taken from us?

Ms. Mawuena Adjo Dumor, Corporate Service Executive of MTN Ghana, said Ghana was chosen because of its friendly business environment among other things.

For this statement, FG should not renew MTN license once it is due.

There are many more wanting to come to Nigeria!

The fact of the matter the cost of doing business in Nigeria is astronomically high and also Ghana remains the in thing happening in the west africa region with very good favourable conditions

They also make astronomical profit in NIGERIA!

If i begin to talk about MTN,I will ask Nigeria and Nigerians to boycott MTN and retrive its licence and give it another comapny that will respect us.

otawa:

For this statement, FG should not renew MTN license once it is due.

There are many more wanting to come to Nigeria!

They also make astronomical profit in NIGERIA!

You spoke my mind.This is an emerging market which captures every segment of the population.They have over 30million subscribers in Nigeria more than the population of the whole Ghana. I will start a campaign for Nigeria not to renew their licence.There are fools.

Nigeria's business environment is as unfriendly as they come

phcn is a failure - so every mtn site has to be designed with a duty and backup generator with 30 days fuel storage

fuel supply is epileptic - i don't want to imagine how much diesel costs to procure right now

sites are in constant danger of vandalisation from generator and equipment thieves

projects in several parts of the south are always hindered by community issues




we can continue bickering, or we can take steps to get our house in order. y'all sound like our ultimatum issuing reps

oyb:

Nigeria's business environment is as unfriendly as they come

phcn is a failure - so every mtn site has to be designed with a duty and backup generator with 30 days fuel storage

fuel supply is epileptic - i don't want to imagine how much diesel costs to procure right now

sites are in constant danger of vandalisation from generator and equipment thieves

projects in several parts of the south are always hindered by community issues




we can continue bickering, or we can take steps to get our house in order. y'all sound like our ultimatum issuing reps

Nonsense;are the fools not transfereing the cost on Nigerian subscribers? Did Nigerians complain? If they are not making money because the environment is unfriendly why not pull out for other investors who are keen on coming to Nigeria.We are the same people who will complain about unemployment and now the little 1000 or so good jobs that will be created is shifted to one small country that the subscriber base of Nigeria is more than the whole population?

Chapelle.S:

Nonsense;are the fools not transfereing the cost on Nigerian subscribers? Did Nigerians complain? If they are not making money because the environment is unfriendly why not pull out for other investors who are keen on coming to Nigeria.We are the same people who will complain about unemployment and now the little 1000 or so good jobs that will be created is shifted to one small country that the subscriber base of Nigeria is more than the whole population?

Wake and smell the coffee - we live in a boundary less business world and their no sentiments when it comes to business. I will assume it is only head office that is relocating and not the operations.

therein lies the nigerian problem

coca cola closed down their concentrate plant
michelin have pulled out

the list of invstors that re losing faiyh in nigeria keep climbing

rather than focus on this, we are refusing to face the fact that we are losing relevance

i even forgot to add one of the more crucial issues - security

who wants to set up his head office in an area where he may be is viewed as a source of income by some miscreants ?

oyb:

therein lies the nigerian problem

coca cola closed down their concentrate plant
michelin have pulled out

the list of invstors that re losing faiyh in nigeria keep climbing

rather than focus on this, we are refusing to face the fact that we are losing relevance

Answer=Over bloated self importance of nigerians about nigeria

oyb:

i even forgot to add one of the more crucial issues - security

who wants to set up his head office in an area where he may be is viewed as a source of income by some miscreants ?

oyb:

therein lies the nigerian problem

coca cola closed down their concentrate plant
michelin have pulled out

the list of invstors that re losing faiyh in nigeria keep climbing

rather than focus on this, we are refusing to face the fact that we are losing relevance

You are not getting this right! Okay,why don't all the oil companies who are operating at the heart of the crossfire of unrest not pack up and leave Nigeria. The sector in which MTN is differnt from all these that you have mentioned above.How many people are driving cars in our 150million citiozens to be changing tires? MTN subscriber base is going up and more money is made in Nigeria more than the other 8 WA countries.Why dont they close shop and pull out completely.

asha 80:

Answer=Over bloated self importance of nigerians about nigeria

Give or take,Nigeria is the 'sleeping giant' of Africa moreso West Africa. a little touch of magic is all we need to change things.

Chapelle.S:

Give or take,Nigeria is the 'sleeping giant' of Africa moreso West Africa. a little touch of magic is all we need to change things.

And where is that magic comming from if we do not tell ourselves the truth about our situation?

asha 80:

And where is that magic coming from if we do not tell ourselves the truth about our situation?

A little touch of brilliance;don't worry,it will come sooner than expected.except that it might be bloody.If you saw the match between Angola and Mali,the way Mali came back from 4-0 downs to bring about that frenzy and passion that grips the soul is what will soon happen to Nigeria.A president who truly places Nigeria before personal interest do not need more than one year to change Nigeria

How is it an insult and who even cares if MTN locates its headquarters in Yemen
Psssf!!

MrCrackles:

How is it an insult and who even cares if MTN locates its headquarters in Yemen
Psssf!!

How do you create jobs if the few jobs that can exist out of the operations of MTN in Nigeria is shifted to another country? Do you think that it is Nigerians that will populate that headquarters in Ghana.Nigerians wake up and stop being myopic in thinking.Do you know that Obama rode to power because one of his policies is to increase taxes for companies that offshored their jobs to Asia,India and other countries because the US citizens were losing their jobs.Instead of creating more jobs the companies are outsourcing.Nigerians should start using their heads correctly!

A little touch of brilliance;don't worry,it will come sooner than expected.except that it might be bloody.If you saw the match between Angola and Mali,the way Mali came back from 4-0 downs to bring about that frenzy and passion that grips the soul is what will soon happen to Nigeria.A president who truly places Nigeria before personal interest do not need more than one year to change Nigeria

no offense to football lovers, but i sometimes think that football is a different sort of opium - our winning the world cup is not going to change the econmic status of nigeria - the best it can do is give us some meaningless bragging rights

back to topic -

why do you think shell are selling off some of their assets?

has it occured to you that MTN and several other companies may be investing far less in nigeria than they would have if we had an enabling environment?

why do you think companies like toyota have not set up shop in nigeria?

everyone is his own local government

i have a borehole, generator , fuel,

the big ogas in my company have private security - why is this?

until these issues are addressed this is what will continue to happen. it is situations like this that make companies like vodacom think twice about investing in nigeria.

oyb:

no offense to football lovers, but i sometimes think that football is a different sort of opium - our winning the world cup is not going to change the econmic status of nigeria - the best it can do is give us some meaningless bragging rights

back to topic -

why do you think shell are selling off some of their assets?

has it occured to you that MTN and several other companies may be investing far less in nigeria than they would have if we had an enabling environment?

why do you think companies like toyota have not set up shop in nigeria?

everyone is his own local government

i have a borehole, generator , fuel,

the big ogas in my company have private security - why is this?

until these issues are addressed this is what will continue to happen. it is situations like this that make companies like vodacom think twice about investing in nigeria.

You talk about shell.In Iraq the other day,they sold licence for their oil field and the whole business men were there.Do I remind you that Iraq is at war.Can you compare the situation in Iraq and Sudan to Nigeria but oil companies are flourishing there.Even if they will employ US navy and army to protect them,the business is gold. What of cabinda where the rebels just struck,do you know that all the wealth of Angola that is currently rivaling Nigeria's crude production comes from a troubled region. The problem with shell is that they have been cheating Nigeria wever since.Now we are about to wake up they are shivering.Let them close shop if they are serious.China is begging with 50bn $ to get a piece of the cake!

You talk of Toyota,its different industries.How many cars are sold in Nigeria to warrant the factory.they have it in SA from where they ship it to Nigeria.Once we have light they will come.We are the 42nd market in the world.

mouth closed on this.  Oyb u'r making a very good point and chapelle S is also right in his views but my mind thinks MTN have already made their cash and would risk severing ties with Nigeria if the need arises. Adding to the a large probability that they have some senators in their pockets not just for lobbying but for spokesman/woman.
 Nigeria would rise above these times but these are real times that need visionary actions. Our politicians and power brokers don't seem to understand that.  At the rate of Ghana is going and building all these confidence left, right, and centre; it is not that difficult to predict a very prosperous Ghana in 2020 ie among G25.  Listening to jay z and pharell -so ambitious; can see the puzzle picture now.

alias64:

Ghana as a sort of capital of Nigeria is an ideal the West would like - complaint and subservient work detail and huge customer base. Companies will continue to relocate to Ghana and rely on mass market Nigeria for profits if Nigerians do not hit them where it hurts, which is their profit margin. This MTN move and others like it are exploitative. They are a type of exploration similar to oil companies hiring and training foreign workers at the expense of Nigerian youths. Nigerians most fight relocations like these ones, which reeks more of fashion than economic expedience, by boycotts and so on.

You spoke my mind in better manner.If they are not hit hard,they will continue to subvert our economy. Nigerians should boycott their services,the government should give them a different tax regime and tactically smoke them out.We have options and other companies are looking to have the golden opportunites they have.I wonder where they will get the over 30 million subscribers the fools have got in Nigeria.In WA over 130 million live under $1 and I bet they have to impose phones on all Ghanaian young and old,child and adult and all other WA countries which will give them about 25million still short of the growing number of subscribers in Nigeria that will soon hit 100million.

naijaway:

mouth closed on this.  Oyb u'r making a very good point and chapelle S is also right in his views but my mind thinks MTN have already made their cash and would risk severing ties with Nigeria if the need arises. Adding to the a large probability that they have some senators in their pockets not just for lobbying but for spokesman/woman.
 Nigeria would rise above these times but these are real times that need visionary actions. Our politicians and power brokers don't seem to understand that.  At the rate of Ghana is going and building all these confidence left, right, and centre; it is not that difficult to predict a very prosperous Ghana in 2020 ie among G25.  Listening to jay z and pharell -so ambitious; can see the puzzle picture now.

All these hype about Ghana are all fuss the US is using to protect their CIA headquarters in Africa which is based in Accra. The only differnce between Ghana and Nigeria is electricity and level of sanity.Ghana is still a poor church rat that can not attain such stride come 2020.You need to visit Ghana and see how filthy Accra is.Ghana is only 23million and boast of 2million mad people

You talk of Toyota,its different industries.How many cars are sold in Nigeria to warrant the factory.they have it in SA from where they ship it to Nigeria.Once we have light they will come.We are the 42nd market in the world.

do you have any idea how much cheaper cars would be if they were assembled locally?

do you have any idea of the job creation potential?

if u live in lagos - u wont think like that - most corporate fleets are made up of toyotas

You spoke my mind in better manner.If they are not hit hard,they will continue to subvert our economy. Nigerians should boycott their services,the government should give them a different tax regime and tactically smoke them out.We have options and other companies are looking to have the golden opportunites they have.

what economy are they subverting?

u  seem to think nigeria is some beautiful omoge that can continue to do shakara - rather than a woman whose charms are rapidly fading away - where are the companies looking for golden opportunities? i hope its not chinese companies you're thinking of - they business practices will make the mtn you're vilifying look like saints

It is just a show of unappreciation. It is pathetic.

oyb:

do you have any idea how much cheaper cars would be if they were assembled locally?

do you have any idea of the job creation potential?

if u live in lagos - u wont think like that - most corporate fleets are made up of toyotas

what economy are they subverting?

u  seem to think nigeria is some beautiful omoge that can continue to do shakara - rather than a woman whose charms are rapidly fading away - where are the companies looking for[b] golden opportunities[/b]? i hope its not chinese companies you're thinking of - they business practices will make the mtn you're vilifying look like saints

Which golden opportunites,the population of Ghana is 23mllion,if you force everyone to use MTN phone,you will not be near Nigeria MTN subscriber base.

As per cars manufacturing,its all about electricity because the Assembly plants cannot make do with generators. In that area,No country in Africa except SA can consume what we are consuming and if the condition improves,we will be competing with European countries and Asia

Johnpaul88:

It is just a show of unappreciation. It is pathetic.

Thank you.Nigerians should boycott the network.I will write on this and also start a group on facebook and possible demostrations at MTN headoffice.

Chapelle.S:

A little touch of brilliance;don't worry,it will come sooner than expected.except that it might be bloody.If you saw the match between Angola and Mali,the way Mali came back from 4-0 downs to bring about that frenzy and passion that grips the soul is what will soon happen to Nigeria.A president who truly places Nigeria before personal interest do not need more than one year to change Nigeria

I agree. If we can get Nigeria into order all these companies will be begging to come back to Nigeria. But sometimes I don't blame companies that leave because of the highly unfriendly business environment.

since MTN gets most of its revenue form Nigeria it should keep its headquarters in Nigeria. If only we had politicians with some sense of national pride, they would always protect interest of the country instead of the interest of their pockets.

Chapelle.S:

You spoke my mind in better manner.If they are not hit hard,they will continue to subvert our economy. Nigerians should boycott their services,the government should give them a different tax regime and tactically smoke them out.We have options and other companies are looking to have the golden opportunites they have.I wonder where they will get the over 30 million subscribers the fools have got in Nigeria.In WA over 130 million live under $1 and I bet they have to impose phones on all Ghanaian young and old,child and adult  and all other WA countries which will give them about 25million still short of the growing number of subscribers in Nigeria that will soon hit 100million.

Chapelle.S:

How do you create jobs if the few jobs that can exist out of the operations of MTN in Nigeria is shifted to another country? Do you think that it is Nigerians that will populate that headquarters in Ghana.Nigerians wake up and stop being myopic in thinking.Do you know that Obama rode to power because one of his policies is to increase taxes for companies that offshored their jobs to Asia,India and other countries because the US citizens were losing their jobs.Instead of creating more jobs the companies are outsourcing.Nigerians should start using their heads correctly!

Chapelle.S:

You talk about shell.In Iraq the other day,they sold licence for their oil field and the whole business men were there.Do I remind you that Iraq is at war.Can you compare the situation in Iraq and Sudan to Nigeria but oil companies are flourishing there.Even if they will employ US navy and army to protect them,the business is gold. What of cabinda where the rebels just struck,do you know that all the wealth of Angola that is currently rivaling Nigeria's crude production comes from a troubled region. The problem with shell is that they have been cheating Nigeria wever since.Now we are about to wake up they are shivering.Let them close shop if they are serious.China is begging with 50bn $ to get a piece of the cake!

You talk of Toyota,its different industries.How many cars are sold in Nigeria to warrant the factory.they have it in SA from where they ship it to Nigeria.Once we have light they will come.We are the 42nd market in the world.

Chapelle.S:

All these hype about Ghana are all fuss the US is using to protect their CIA headquarters in Africa which is based in Accra. The only differnce between Ghana and Nigeria is electricity and level of sanity.Ghana is still a poor church rat that can not attain such stride come 2020.You need to visit Ghana and see how filthy Accra is.Ghana is only 23million and boast of 2million mad people

Valid points . . .

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Wow I never knew CIA Headquarters is in Ghana . . . men I pity those Ghanians o talk of dinning with the devil.


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@chapelle

- I think Nigeria needs more individuals that understand how geo-politics and geo-business works . . .

- Its Nigeria doing MTN a favour and not the other way round . . . hence to be frank it simply means MTN does not give a damn about Nigeria as country and hence MTN only sees Nigeria as a mere pay-slip meant to be cashed.

- Nigerians don't understand that how we care ourselves goes a long way to influence how other people and companies and other nations end up interacting with us.

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At the end of the day. . . its MTN's decision  . . . . there is nothing Nigeria can do about it . . . the only hope is that we should get politicians that are intelligent enough to see the whole picture instead of being myopic with corruption.

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Now I am seriously suspecting that Africom might end up being cited in Ghana . . .


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What really is wrong with us Africans . . .why don't we learn from the mistakes of our other black brethren and countries . . . who have been used and dumped by the US.

Moved to phones

Chapelle.S:

Thank you.Nigerians should boycott the network.I will write on this and also start a group on facebook and possible demostrations at MTN headoffice.

Chapelle.S:

Which golden opportunites,the population of Ghana is 23mllion,if you force everyone to use MTN phone,you will not be near Nigeria MTN subscriber base.

As per cars manufacturing,its all about electricity because the Assembly plants cannot make do with generators. In that area,No country in Africa except SA can consume what we are consuming and if the condition improves,we will be competing with European countries and Asia

Interesting points . . .