MTN Uganda profit rises sharply as data and mobile money boost growth

Telecoms giant reports Ush367.5bn profit despite higher costs, regulatory changes and network disruptions

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | MTN Uganda’s profits rose by almost 38% in the first half of 2026, as growing demand for mobile data and digital financial services helped the technology company withstand a challenging business environment.

Profit after tax increased 37.7% to Ush367.5bn ($98m) in the six months to June, while service revenue rose 9.4% to Ush1.86tn, interim financial results released on Aug.7 shows.

The results come after a difficult start to the year for the company, which faced internet disruptions on the back of general elections, changes to mobile money operations and higher fuel and other operating costs.

MTN Uganda chief executive Sylvia Mulinge said the performance demonstrated the resilience of the company’s business.

“The improved performance reflects the resilience of our operating model, the strength of our customer base, and continued execution of our strategic priorities,” she said.

Customers use more data

The strongest growth came from data services. Data revenue increased by 15.6% to Ush566.8bn as more Ugandans adopted smartphones and increased their use of mobile internet. MTN’s active data customer base grew by 16.3% to 12.6 million. Smartphone penetration among its customers increased to 42.2%, from 40.1% a year earlier.

As more customers moved online, data traffic increased by 26.9%. The average amount of data consumed by each customer rose by 9.2%.

The company is also investing heavily in its fibre network, which expanded by 90.1% to more than 35,000km. That expansion helped push the number of home broadband customers up by 68.9%. Data now accounts for 30.4% of MTN Uganda’s service revenue.

The figures show how the telecoms business is changing, with data services increasingly replacing traditional voice calls as a source of growth.

Voice revenue increased by only 1.8% to Ush640.4bn. MTN said the introduction of a lower mobile termination rate contributed to the slowdown. Mobile termination rates are the fees telecoms companies pay each other when customers make calls between different networks. The reduction means operators receive less revenue from calls that end on their networks.

Voice accounted for 34.3% of MTN’s service revenue, down from 36.9% a year earlier. However, the company said efforts to attract and retain customers helped cushion the impact.

Mobile money expands

Mobile money continued to provide another important source of growth. Revenue from MTN’s fintech division increased by 10.7% to Ush580.6bn. The number of active fintech users rose 11.5% to 14.8 million. Customers made 2.6 billion transactions during the six months, an increase of 9.5%.

But the value of those transactions grew much faster, rising 26.8% to Ush113.3tn. Similarly, the number of MTN mobile money agents increased by 23.8% to 270,500, while the merchant network approached 200,000.

Revenue from advanced financial services, including payments and banking technology, rose by 26.2%. As a result, the contribution of advanced services to overall MoMo revenue increased to 30.4%, while fintech revenue contribution to service revenue improved by 0.3 pp to 31.1%.

The company said the growth came despite temporary disruption to its agent network following regulatory changes. It expects recent changes to its agent and merchant propositions to improve activity in the second half of the year.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 4.7% to Ush967.5bn. But the company’s profit margin fell from 53.7% to 51.2% linked to higher operating expenses and increased spending on the network.

MTN said average liquid fuel prices increased sharply in the second quarter, adding to the cost of running its network and other operations.

The company responded with an efficiency programme that generated Ush11.1bn in savings. Despite the pressure on margins, MTN’s operating profitability remained above its medium-term target of 50%.

Network investment accelerates

MTN spent Ush317.7bn on capital expenditure, excluding leases, during the first six months of the year. That was 44.6% more than in the same period in 2025. When lease-related expenditure is included, total capital investment rose 62.7% to Ush455.1bn.

The company added 224 network sites as it sought to keep up with growing demand for data. 4G population coverage increased to 93.3%, from 88.2% a year earlier. 5G coverage also expanded, reaching 25.6%, compared with 19%. MTN said the investment was necessary to meet its licence obligations and improve network capacity.

The telecoms sector also faced a changing regulatory environment. MTN said internet disruptions during the first quarter affected its operations.

The company also raised concerns about illegal public Wi-Fi operators, which it says are reselling internet services using business fibre and fixed wireless connections. This has prompted the Uganda Communications Commission to begin a nationwide crackdown on the services, a move that could reduce competition from unlicensed providers and give established telecoms companies greater protection.

Mobile money remains another highly competitive area, with new providers competing for customers, merchants and agents.

MTN Uganda’s performance came amidst various challenges in the wider economy. The shilling lost 1.4% of its value against the US dollar during the first half of the year. The company attributed the movement partly to pressure from higher global oil prices and increased demand for foreign currency.

Higher fuel prices have also raised costs for businesses across Uganda. Inflation, however, remained relatively low, averaging 3.1% during the period.

Nevertheless, MTN Uganda said it was continuing with investments aimed at reducing its environmental impact. It commissioned a 490kWh solar power system at its headquarters, while more than 90% of its tower sites are now powered by clean energy sources.

The company also launched an MTN Spark Hub at Kabale University in Western Uganda as part of a Ush4bn programme to establish four regional innovation hubs. Others planned hubs include; Busitema and Soroti universities in the eastern region and Gulu University in northern region. MTN said it also paid Ush803.8bn in direct and indirect taxes during the first half of this year.

Dividend rises

 As such, the board has declared an interim dividend of Ush8.75 per share, bringing total dividends declared during the first half of the year to Ush17.25 per share. The total dividend amounts to Ush386.2bn.

MTN maintained its forecast for service revenue growth in the upper teens over the medium term, while expecting its operating margin to remain above 50%.

It plans to continue investing in network expansion while seeking to increase data consumption and expand the use of digital financial services.

Mulinge said the company remained confident about its prospects.

“We remain optimistic that our strategy in collaboration with policy efforts will support our growth ambitions in the second half of the year,” she said.

The first-half results suggest that MTN Uganda is successfully shifting towards a business driven increasingly by data and digital finance.

But the company will have to manage rising costs, tougher competition and regulatory changes as it seeks to maintain that momentum.