November 27, 2020
South African cellphone operator MTN Group will exit the Middle East, including Iran, as part of plans to focus on Africa.
MTN owns 49 percent of Irancell, the first and main cellphone operator in Iran. MTN said it would sell off its entire stake and leave the country, but did not say when.
MTN is in advanced talks already to sell its stake in MTN Syria to TeleInvest, which holds the other 25 percent of the business, Group President and Chief Executive Officer Rob Shuter said August 6.
“We felt we were best served in the medium term to rather focus our energies in our core African markets that are closer to home,” he said.
Among reasons for divesting from the region, he cited losing money on falling regional currencies, the Middle East’s volatile geopolitics, and problems with Western sanctions, though he did not mention Iran specifically. US sanctions have made it hard to repatriate cash from its Iran joint venture for years.
MTN’s entry into the region has been marred by allegations, which it has denied, that it used bribes to win a 15-year operating license in Iran and also that it aided militant groups in Afghanistan.
The company’s Middle East assets contributed less than 4 percent to group earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the first half of this year.
Shuter said the initial focus will be on leaving Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen, and then Iran.