25 June 2004
	SA's Top 20 Companies 3 MTN Total score: 62,0 Total score: 62,0

MTN's expansion into Africa has delivered results that have confounded the sceptics. Its operations in four countries, particularly its highly profitable ventures in Nigeria and Uganda, helped it to overtake rival Vodacom in profits. With Vodacom's withdrawal from Nigeria, MTN has also moved ahead in the race to break free of growth restrictions in SA's maturing market. At the end of 2003 MTN's subscriber base stood at 8,9m, of which 2m were from operations outside SA. This represented a cracking growth pace of almost 50%/year in total subscribers and adds credibility to one of SA's foremost empowerment groups.