MTN Group, the mobile network operator with $1bn stuck in Iran, has agreed to invest $22m in Snapp.ir, the Islamic Republic’s first taxi-hailing smartphone application.The funds "will allow us to quickly expand to other cities" than Tehran, Snapp CEO Shahram Shahkar said on Tuesday. MTN will transfer the cash to the app’s owner, Iran Internet Group, which operates and invests in start-up and e-commerce companies.MTN’s investment in Snapp strengthens the phone company’s ties with Iran as it tries to repatriate R15.4bn from the country following the lifting of US-led economic sanctions. MTN’s former chief financial officer, Brett Goschen, said in August that it would take at least five months for the carrier to transfer the money due to a lack of ties between Iran and international banks.MTN has invested in tech start-ups in Africa and the Middle East through the Middle Eastern Internet Group and Africa Internet Holdings. Those two ventures are in partnership with Germany’s Rocket Int...
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