MTN Warns Anti-Immigration Sentiment Threatens Africa's Digital Future

As South Africa grapples with intensified migration debates, MTN Group—Africa’s largest telecommunications provider—is raising concerns that anti-immigrant sentiment could undermine the continent’s economic progress. The company, which connects 312.7 million customers across 19 markets, relies on regional integration for growth and worries that rising hostility toward migrants runs counter to its business model.

MTN executives recently emphasized at the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation’s Winter Seminar that Africa’s future depends on creating economic opportunities, expanding digital connectivity, and allowing skills to move freely. “People move because opportunity is unevenly distributed,” noted Ralph Mupita, MTN Group President and CEO. “The defining question is whether we can build economies where mobility matches opportunity.”

This message comes as South Africa has seen months of attacks on foreign businesses, forced evictions, and heightened anti-immigration rhetoric ahead of local elections. Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Eswatini have all evacuated citizens from South Africa following deadlines issued by the March and April Movement, an activist group targeting undocumented migrants.

Mupita shared his personal story as a Zimbabwean migrant who has lived in South Africa for 35 years—a reflection of MTN’s own pan-African journey. He pointed out that one of Nelson Mandela’s earliest decisions after democracy was issuing mobile licenses in 1993 that led to MTN’s creation.

MTN Chairman Mcebisi Jonas argued that immigration has become a political scapegoat for South Africa’s deeper economic challenges, adding that “removing migrants would do nothing to solve our problems.” He emphasized that the country risks undermining its competitiveness by treating African workers and traders with hostility while welcoming them as customers and investors.

The seminar highlighted the need for governments to create predictable policy environments that attract investment and allow businesses to allocate resources effectively. As Dr Ishmael Yamson, chairman of MTN Ghana’s board, noted: “Africa’s future competitiveness will depend on how successfully we equip young people with digital skills.”