Settlement Signed in Damascus
Syria and South Africa's MTN Group signed the final documents of a settlement in Damascus on 14 November 2026, concluding negotiations over the telecommunications operator's presence in the country. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said the agreement was reached within the deadline both sides had set.
The head of the Syrian Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority, Khaled al-Homsi, signed for the Syrian side, while MTN Group deputy president Ismail Jaroudi signed for the company. Finance Minister Mohammad Yisr Barniyeh and South Africa's ambassador to Syria, Ashraf Suleiman, attended the ceremony.
End of a Long Dispute
The settlement closes a file that officials described as an obstacle to telecommunications investment for years. It regulates the company's exit from the Syrian market and resolves rights the ministry said had been confiscated under the former government.
The agreement creates obligations for both parties that extend over several years. No financial figure was disclosed. After the change of government, the operator's Syrian business had been overseen by the Syrian Sovereign Fund.
Path to a New Operator
The two sides agreed on the settlement's terms in February, and Minister of Communications Abdulsalam Hikal met the company's chief executive, Ralph Mupita, in Barcelona in March. That meeting opened the way for a competition to award a new mobile license.
Intermediate documents had earlier been signed at the Syrian Embassy in the United Arab Emirates and at the Arab British Chamber of Commerce in London. Zain Group won the license in June. On 11 November the ministry said the new operator's obligations had been defined and that licensing and preparation were proceeding on schedule.
Service Expected in 2027
Zain is expected to begin operations in the first quarter of 2027. The ministry presented the settlement and the new license as part of an effort to reopen the telecommunications sector to foreign operators and restore regulatory certainty for investors.