MTN Uganda’s bold decision to list its shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange last year has propelled it to the league of Africa’s most valuable companies.

The latest premier annual survey by South Africa’s African Business Magazine on Africa’s Top 250 Companies, ranked MTN Uganda in the 105th position, with a market capitalisation of US$1.124billion and a net income of US$87million.

MTN Uganda’s biggest shareholder, MTN Group soared from the 13th position to the 4th position on this year’s ranking after more than doubling its market capitalisation from US$ 11.1bn in 2021 to US$24.5bn, with a net income of US$930million. 

The telecom company raised cash by listing its operations in Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, and other countries, and investing in new networks, infrastructure, and data centres.

African Business magazine has been running its ranking of Africa’s Top 250 Companies for the last 16 years, taking the top listed companies from national and regional stock exchanges across Africa.

The African Business Top 250 Companies charts the rise of innovative, strategic, and resilient African businesses that straddle the continent, make huge profits, and invest billions into Africa-wide strategies to seize future opportunities.

Commenting on the ranking, MTN Uganda’s acting Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Bugembe, said they are excited that the telecom company emerged as one of the most valuable companies on the continent.

“Our maiden appearance in the ranking is a big achievement for MTN Uganda, moreover in this tough operating environment,” he said. 

Bugembe said the ranking demonstrates that the company has the right strategy, the right leadership, and the right investment direction to facilitate growth.

This comes at a time businesses including telecoms are facing an unprecedented tough operating business environment characterised by high commodity prices including fuel amidst a weakening local currency.

The African Business Top 250 Companies survey focuses on the biggest companies that are listed on an African stock exchange, with the ranking determined by the market capitalisation (total value of the listed shares) on 31 March 2022. The market capitalisation is converted into US dollars on the same date. 

The survey excludes companies that have African heritage and roots but no longer earn at least 50% of their revenues in Africa.

It also excludes companies that earn more than 50% of their revenues from Africa but are not listed on an African stock exchange; real estate investment trusts (REITs), and other real estate investment and finance companies.

Incorporated in 1998, MTN Uganda operates through a network of over 170,000 Mobile Money agents, 200 service stores, and 13, main distributors.  The telecom company has more than 16.3 million subscribers, 9.8 million MoMo users, and 5.7 million active data users.