MTN CEO Ralph Mupita earns $4.1 million as telecom giant returns to profit

MTN Group rewarded its Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita with total compensation of R69.4 million ($4.1 million) for the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2025, after the pan-African telecom operator returned to profit following a difficult prior year.

The payout came as MTN reported a sharp financial recovery, swinging from a loss to a profit of R47.43 billion ($2.81 billion) in 2025. The rebound followed stronger operations across several of its biggest markets and continued growth in mobile data and digital services.

Bonuses rise, total pay down 

Mupita’s compensation package was 24.5 percent lower than the R92 million ($5.51 million) he received in 2024. Even so, the payout reflects a year in which the telecom group stabilized its balance sheet and expanded its customer base across Africa.

The Zimbabwean executive’s pay package included a base salary of R19.02 million ($1.14 million), bonuses totaling R29.5 million, and R18.4 million ($1.1 million) in pre-tax gains from equity-settled share-based payments.

A year earlier, Mupita earned a base salary of R18.8 million, bonuses of R24.5 million ($1.46 million), and R45.8 million ($2.74 million) in pre-tax gains from share-based incentives.

Mupita’s MTN shares add dividend income

Beyond his annual pay, Mupita is also set to receive dividend income from his shareholding in MTN. As of Dec. 31, 2025, he held 1,118,331 ordinary shares in the telecom group. At the time of writing, that stake was valued at about R218.9 million ($13.1 million). 

Based on the company’s latest dividend declaration, the holding will earn him roughly R5.6 million ($336,000) in dividend income. MTN declared a gross final dividend of R5 ($0.29) per share for the year ended Dec. 31, 2025, to be paid from the company’s revenue reserves.

MTN revenue, subscribers, data surge

Mupita, who has led MTN since April 2017, oversaw a year of growth for the telecom operator. The group reported revenue of $13.5 billion in 2025, supported by stronger activity in its core markets. It added 16.3 million subscribers during the year, lifting its total customer base to 307.2 million users across 16 markets, including South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda.

Service revenue rose from 22.59 percent from R188 billion ($11.15 billion) in 2024 to R226.71 billion ($13.45 billion) in 2025. Demand for mobile data remained a key driver of growth. Active data users rose 9.4 percent to 172.6 million, while total data traffic jumped 27 percent to 24.7 petabytes, reflecting rising smartphone adoption and increased use of digital services.

Nigeria leads MTN Group profit rebound

Nigeria remained the group’s largest contributor, generating R61.7 billion ($3.7 billion) in service revenue. Ghana followed with R35.73 billion ($2.12 billion), while South Africa, MTN’s home market, contributed R51.09 billion ($3.03 billion).

The earnings helped MTN return to profitability after the previous year’s loss, marking one of the company’s most notable recoveries in recent years as it continued to expand its network and digital services across the continent.