Manny Pham

MTN Ghana reported a 32.3% year-on-year increase in first-half 2026 service revenue to GHS15 billion on a combined basis, with EBITDA up 39.8% and profit after tax up 43.3%. Growth was led by mobile data, whose revenue rose 47.1%, and Mobile Money, whose revenue increased 23.3%. The company completed the regulatory separation of its fintech operations into MobileMoney Fintech LTD on 31 March, while continuing to present combined results for comparability. MTN Ghana also denied allegations from Clydestone Ghana concerning the origins of mobile money services and said the legal dispute would not affect operations. The operator is investing in network capacity and digital platforms as it pursues its Ambition 2030 strategy.

MTN Ghana and MTN Group deny allegations from Clydestone Ghana PLC concerning the origins of mobile money services in Ghana and intend to fully contest the lawsuit filed in the High Court in Accra. MTN Ghana says the proceedings will not affect its operations, performance or Mobile Money services and will update investors on material developments. The dispute coincides with strong first-half 2026 results from MTN Nigeria, including subscriber growth, higher data usage, increased service revenue and a 70.6% rise in profit after tax.

Angola raised AOA300.3 billion, or US$329 million, by selling a 15% stake in Unitel at the top of the IPO’s price range. Demand reached AOA362.1 billion, making the offering 20.72% oversubscribed, with 17,549 of 18,571 orders accepted. Unitel shares are scheduled to begin trading on the BODIVA exchange on 29 July. The listing is part of Angola’s effort to attract private investment into its state-dominated economy and follows the government’s nationalization of Isabel dos Santos’s former stake in the operator.

Pakistan’s government has reportedly put the proposed “e&” rebranding of the merged Ufone-Telenor Pakistan business on hold while it reviews whether Ufone’s board had authority to approve the change before the merger was legally completed. The review follows concerns about corporate governance, the removal of “Pakistan” from the company identity, and conflicting decisions by Ufone and parent company PTCL boards. Pakistan’s telecom regulator approved the name in principle but required legal completion of the amalgamation before commercial promotion, leaving the branding exercise suspended pending possible advice from the Law Division.

Bangladesh’s telecommunications regulator fined the country’s four mobile operators a combined BDT86.8 million after 8,682 SIM cards were identified in illegal VoIP international call termination operations. Robi Axiata received the largest penalty, followed by Banglalink, Teletalk and Grameenphone. The BTRC said the operators had failed to prevent misuse under telecom law, licence conditions and regulatory directives, and ordered payment within 10 days while warning of further legal action. The operators disputed the penalties, citing their own detection and blocking systems and arguing that customers responsible for misuse should be held accountable.

Vodacom reported first-quarter group revenue growth of 5.9% and service-revenue growth of 6.3%, or 12.6% excluding foreign-exchange effects. After completing the purchase of an additional 20% of Safaricom, raising its stake to 55%, the company increased its medium-term EBITDA and operating free cash-flow growth targets to the early teens and lifted its Vision 2030 revenue ambition above ZAR300 billion. Egypt, international operations and financial services led growth, while Vodacom also raised its dividend payout policy to at least 65% of headline earnings and continued investing in South African fibre infrastructure through Maziv.

China’s smartphone market contracted 4.3% year-on-year to 66 million shipments in the second quarter of 2026, its fifth consecutive decline, as rising component and memory costs raised device prices and weakened demand. Huawei and Apple maintained stable pricing and posted strong shipment growth, taking the top two positions, while Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi saw declines and Samsung experienced the steepest drop. IDC warned that pricing pressures will intensify as inventories of older, cheaper components deplete, with market declines expected to widen to around 20% in the second half of 2026 and challenges continuing into 2027. A recovery is projected for 2028–2029 as delayed consumer demand fuels a new replacement cycle.

Pankaj Pawar has replaced Kiran Thomas as CEO of Jio Platforms ahead of the company’s planned IPO, according to filings with India’s market regulator. Pawar, who also serves as managing director of Reliance Jio Infocomm, brings over 30 years of experience in digital and consumer businesses. The IPO is expected to raise about US$4 billion, with Mukesh Ambani set to become chairman and non-executive director following the listing.