South Africa’s MTN today launched the largest deployment of mobile wallet services to date in a deal worth US$9.7 million, which will enable more than 80 million subscribers across 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East, to access mobile banking services.

MTN subscribers will have the option to receive a debit card for withdrawing cash from ATMs

‘MTN MobileMoney’ will use the mobile wallet solution of Fundamo, a specialised mobile banking software provider, with the aim to bring basic financial services to the largely unbanked populations in the region. MTN MobileMoney has already been available in South Africa, and this deal will extend MTN and Fundamo’s existing relationship to an additional 20 countries.

The mobile wallet service will allow subscribers to transfer money, make mobile payments, check their balance, make mobile purchases and buy air-time. Users also have the option to receive a branded debit card that can be used to withdraw cash from ATMs. The software also uses HSM technology which offers a PIN system that prevents sensitive information from residing on the handset, safeguarding subscribers against theft and fraud. It is also fully compliant with all banking regulations, enabling banks to login to the system and manage the banking elements of the service, while the operator focuses on customer acquisition and retention.

MTN operates telecoms networks in South Africa, Botswana, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, Benin, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and Cyprus.

The deal follows recent announcements by other regional operators including Bahrain-based Zain, which launched ‘Zap’ mobile banking services in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania last month. Zap will eventually be rolled out to all of Zain’s 22 operations across Africa and Middle East, with a subscriber base of 63.54 million customers as of end-2008.

Saudi Arabia’s STC also launched in February a mobile commerce solution in Kuwait through its subsidiary Viva. STC has not confirmed whether it would extend its service to its operations in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, South Africa, Malaysia and Bahrain.

Related stories:

STC’s Viva launches M-payments solution in Kuwait

Zain launches Zap mobile banking in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda

Paying the piper

Zain in a 50/50 partnership with Al Ajial Investment Fund Holding has agreed to invest an amount of MAD 2.85 billion (US$324 million) in return for a 31 per cent stake in Wana Corporate, the third mobile telecoms operator in Morocco.

Wana is an integrated telecoms operator offering fixed and restricted mobility wireless services (branded as Bayn), full CDMA mobility services (branded as Wana), and Internet and data services

This is the first time that Zain, the highly acquisitive Middle East operator, has partnered in such a manner in order to acquire a stake in an investment, and may reflect a change in acquisition ethos given the state of the global economy.

It should be noted that Al Ajial is fully funded by the Kuwait Investment Authority, which is also a 25 per cent stakeholder in Zain.

The investment by Zain and Al Ajial will provide Wana with the funding requirements and operational contributions to continue on its ambitious growth plan and to successfully launch its new GSM service later this year. Wana is an integrated telecoms operator currently offering fixed and restricted mobility wireless services (branded as Bayn), full CDMA mobility services (branded as Wana), and Internet and data services throughout Morocco.

Under the agreement Zain will assist Wana in the deployment of its GSM network. Along with the investment, Wana and Zain will enter into an operating framework agreement that will give Wana the possibility to access Zain’s expertise, purchasing power, products and services, including Zain’s ‘One Network’ roaming service.

At the beginning of February Wana was announced the winner of Morocco’s third mobile licence, though Morocco’s regulator, the Telecoms National Regulation Agency (ANRT) did not publicly state how much Wana paid for the licence.

Wana is owned by Moroccan conglomerate Omnium Nord-Africain (ONA) and said it had committed a “significant investment” as part of its bid. The operator was formerly known as Maroc Connect (MCO) and acquired a next generation wireline licence in 2006.

Morocco’s two incumbents are Maroc Telecom, majority-owned by European entertainment group Vivendi, and Medi Telecom, a joint venture between Spain’s Telefonica and Portugal Telecom.

Morocco had 22.82 million mobile subscribers as of end-2008, representing a penetration rate of 74 per cent, according to the ANRT. Maroc Telecom commands a mobile market share of 63.4 per cent, with Medi Telecom holding 34.6 per cent, and Wana Corporate serving the remaining 1.9 per cent.

Vodafone Qatar today announced the initial public offering of 40 per cent of the company’s authorised share capital and subsequent listing on the Doha Securities Market.

The Vodafone Qatar IPO subscription period will open on April 12, 2009 and will close on April 26 subject to final regulatory approvals. A full prospectus will be available from the 12 selected receiving banks from April 12, providing full details of the IPO and the company.

Vodafone Qatar CEO, Grahame Maher says much still needs to be done ahead of commercial launch in Qatar

Vodafone Qatar turned on its mobile network on March 1, and its first 1,000 customers have been asked to help test and build the mobile network. Vodafone Qatar will make announcements on its products and services in due course, with a full commercial launch only expected to occur towards the end of the year.

An IPO open night will be hosted on March 17 by Vodafone Qatar chairman Sheikh Abdulrahman Bin Saoud Al Thani; Vodafone Qatar CEO, Grahame Maher; and Qatar Foundation vice president Rashid Al Naimi.

HSBC Bank Middle East and Qatar National Bank are acting as joint financial advisers, joint lead managers, and joint lead receiving banks.

Speaking to Comm. last year, Maher quipped that upon completion of the IPO, Vodafone Qatar would be more of a Qatari company than Qtel. Vodafone’s equity participation in the consortium is set to be reduced to 23 per cent following the IPO, while the Qatar Foundation will hold a 22 per cent stake, government institutions 15 per cent; and 40 per cent will be offered to Qatari nationals.

“We are going to be a minority shareholder with management control, and this arrangement was necessary in order for us to achieve our first step in the Gulf,” Maher told Comm. last year. “This is the next level of Vodafone’s partnership model, which offers us management control and the ability to brand the operation.”

Inmarsat’s core mobile satellite services business recorded an EDITBA margin of 68 per cent in 2008, to end-December, with revenues up 13.9 per cent year-on-year to US$634.7 million, and EBITDA up 12.5 per cent to US$431.6 million.

The uptake of inflight communications has helped boost business in Inmarsat’s aeroneutical business

Pre-tax profit for the year amounted to US$193.8 million, up 56 per cent year-on-year.

For Q408, revenue was up 20.4 per cent to US$160.6 million, while EBITDA came in at US$101.4, up 18.7 per cent.

Increased demand for both voice and data services contributed to growth in maritime sector revenue of 7.2 per cent year-on-year. Growth in Inmarsat’s base of active maritime terminals was up 5.8 per cent for the year, including growth of 36.7 per cent in its base of active Fleet and FleetBroadband terminals.

Inmarsat’s land mobile sector recorded revenue growth of 12.7 per cent for the year. This performance was driven by continued growth of the company’s BGAN service, which continues to attract new users to the network and drive higher usage levels across its user base. Inmarsat’s base of active land mobile terminals was up 2.3 per cent for the year, while the number of active BGAN terminals was up 75 per cent, ending the year at 27,635.

Growth in the aeronautical sector was 45.4 per cent and was the result of sustained demand and high levels of usage for Inmarsat’s Swift 64 service, which continues to primarily serve government aircraft and business jets. Overall active aeronautical terminals were up 13.5 per cent year over year.

In the way of outlook, given that a significant proportion of Inmarsat’s revenue comes from government customers and as commercial customers tend to have a high degree of day-to-day reliance on its services, the company believes its business is well positioned against economic downturn. As a result, Inmarsat is cautiously optimistic that its business will continue to show solid revenue growth in 2009.

Africa’s largest mobile telecoms operator MTN Group counted 90.7 million subscribers at the end of December 2008, up 48 per cent year-on-year.

The increase in subscribers was driven largely by MTN Irancell and MTN Nigeria, which added 10 million and 6.6 million subscribers respectively, during the course of the year.

MTN Group CEO, Phuthuma Nhleko said the operator would consider investments outside the MEA is they made sense

Group revenue was up 40 per cent to ZAR102.5 billion (US$10.83 billion) driven by the strong growth in subscribers and the relative appreciation of operating currencies to the rand. EBITDA increased by 36 per cent to ZAR43.2 billion, while after-tax profit amounted to ZAR17.14 billion, up 43.8 per cent year-on-year.

The operator incurred expenditure of ZAR28.3 billion on CAPEX in 2008, an 84 per cent increase, while it continued to focus on evolving its networks and actively seeking infrastructure, transmission and site sharing opportunities across its operations. MTN also invested approximately ZAR250 million to gain access to significant submarine cable capacity through the SAT-3, WACS, EASSy and EIG initiatives.

In addition to sound operational performance, the depreciation of the rand against the dollar resulted in the effective appreciation of many African and Middle Eastern currencies against the rand for a major portion of the year, positively affecting the net trading results of MTN Group by approximately 15 per cent.

MTN’s West and Central Africa region continued to be the largest contributor to group revenue making up 47 per cent of total revenue, compared with 42 per cent in the prior financial year, while South and East Africa (SEA), and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) contributed 37 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

MTN Irancell’s EBITDA margin turned positive to 30.2 per cent from negative 13.4 per cent as the business picked up critical mass. The South Africa EBITDA margin dropped two percentage points to 32.8 per cent, as a result of management’s strategic decision to invest in distribution.

Looking ahead, MTN said it remains cautiously optimistic about its prospects for 2009 in challenging trading conditions.

Strategic priorities include actively seeking value-accretive expansion opportunities in emerging markets, with a potential to act as a consolidator in the current market environment.