Most businesses avoid countries like Nigeria, with its massive population but lack of formal financial structures and bad reputation for corruption. Yet MTN took the plunge – and its investments have paid off immensely. Using the high-risk country as a springboard, MTN has built itself into the biggest cellular operator in Africa.

After this successful safari, MTN is expanding into an even more forbidding region. Its first investment is a greenfields licence in Iran, which, like Iraq before it, appears to be in the crosshairs of the US`s war on terror.

If Iran seemed like a bold step into a difficult region, MTN`s R33.5 billion ($5.53 billion) acquisition of Dubai-based Investcom got tongues wagging about the South African operator`s global ambitions.