MTN warns anti‑immigrant sentiment threatens Africa‑wide business and talent flow

Sponsored content: MTN Group warned that rising anti‑immigrant sentiment in South Africa could disrupt the movement of skills and businesses across Africa, threatening the pan‑African integration on which its telco business depends. The operator, serving 312.7 million customers in 19 African and Middle Eastern markets, said most of its growth comes from outside South Africa. The warning follows the March and March Movement’s declaration giving undocumented migrants a June 30 deadline to leave the country, prompting Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Eswatini to begin evacuating their citizens. At the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation’s Winter Seminar on Thursday, MTN executives argued that Africa’s future depends on open borders, digital connectivity and equal opportunity. CEO Ralph Mupita, noting his own Zimbabwean roots, said people move because opportunity is unevenly distributed and challenged leaders to build economies where mobility is matched by opportunity. Chairman Mcebisi Jonas called immigration a convenient scapegoat for South Africa’s deeper economic woes, warning that expelling foreigners would not fix low growth, poor governance, weak education, failing infrastructure or structural inequality. MTN Ghana board chair Ishmael Yamson added that Africa’s demographic dividend will only become a skills dividend if governments invest in digital, entrepreneurial, technical and leadership training for youth. The remarks come amid months of attacks on foreign‑owned businesses, forced evictions of migrants and rising anti‑immigrant rhetoric ahead of the November 2026 local government elections. With its growth tied to cross‑border connectivity, MTN urged predictable policies that allow talent and capital to flow freely across the continent.

SOURCE: https://techcabal.com/2026/07/24/why-mtn-is-speaking-out-on-south-africas-migration-crisis/