Mteto Nyati
South Africa-based regional operator MTN Group has revealed plans to restructure its business services division in an attempt to increase its share of a market segment thought to be worth ZAR64.5 billion (USD5.6 billion). The move comes just months after the group laid off some 1,300 members of staff, but signals a renewed commitment to a fragmented sector in which it can only lay claim to a 7% market share. MTN Enterprise Business currently offers software applications, cloud computing, networking infrastructure and mobile services, and the reorganisation will most likely require it to hire in new skills to expand into other sectors of the market.
Last November, MTN Group chief enterprise officer Mteto Nyati revealed that MTN Enterprise Business was pursuing acquisitions ‘in areas such as software applications that might give it access to new industries such as healthcare and education’. The unit also plans to focus on the public sector and small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) across the continent, making its product suite easy to use for SMEs in an attempt to boost take-up from this client group. MTN Group is actively seeking new revenue streams in areas such as e-commerce and mobile payments as its consumer business in key markets continue to be affected by aggressive competition and regulatory requirements
