Crystal Telecom and its associate firm, MTN Rwanda are projecting revenue growth in 2020 of about 12 per cent buoyed by increased Mobile Money and data usage. This emerged at Crystal Telecom’s Annual General Meeting virtually on June 29. Crystal Telecom holds a 20 per cent stake in MTN Rwanda which it has floated on the local bourse. At the meeting, MTN Rwanda expressed confidence of growth performance in 2020 noting that they expect to lead the market in both revenue and market share. Mitwa Kaemba Ng’ambi the Chief Executive of MTN Rwanda said that the outlook for 2020 is positive, projecting revenue growth of about 12 per cent in 2020. She noted that in 2019, revenues had grown significantly but profits dipped resulting from one-off costs. Among the one off costs included tax penalties which impacted profitability. MTN Rwanda earned a profit of about Rwf6.8 billion in profit after tax in 2019. MTN Rwanda’s profit dropped slightly compared to the previous year when it registered Rwf7.7 billion. Total revenue for 2019 was about Rwf125 billion. In 2019, the biggest income stream for MTN Rwanda was voice revenue (airtime) at 49 per cent of revenue. Voice revenue before tax was estimated at over Rwf 61 billion before tax. Mobile money followed with a revenue of over rwf 22 billion and mobile data at about rwf 19 billion. Among their drivers for growth in 2020, she said was tapping into the unconnected customers, mobile money and data. Mobile Money and data demand have gone up amid the covid-19 pandemic as members of the public seek to make cashless payment as well as work remotely. Ng’ambi noted that for instance, mobile money usage had gone up four fold. Crystal Telecom registered a profit of Rwf1.3 billion in 2019 which was a slight drop, from Rwf1.5 billion in 2018. The Annual General Meeting approved dividend payout of Rwf1,006,141,541 with shareholders to receive a payout Rwf3.72 per share which will be disbursed in August. The Annual General Meeting also approved the addition of Regis Rugemanshuro on the Board of Directors replacing Richard Tusabe who has since retired. 2019 was the second year running that MTN Rwanda has recorded a profit after a major rebound from a loss of Rwf8.5 billion it had incurred in 2017, largely owing to hefty fines by the regulator and tax authorities. As of June 2019, MTN Rwanda recorded the highest market share of 54 per cent in active mobile cellular telephone subscriptions whereas Airtel Rwanda Ltd had 46 per cent.
