MTN Pledges $1.6 Billion in Nigeria After Meeting President

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in  Africa): MTN Group Ltd. pledged to invest $1.6 billion to expand its operations in Nigeria after settling the latest major dispute with authorities in its most profitable market.

Africa’s largest wireless carrier announced the investment after a meeting between senior executives including Chief Executive Officer Rob Shuter and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday. The two sides appeared to patch up recent differences and said they’ll work together to improve telecommunications networks in the continent’s most populous country.

“We are steadfast about our investments in Nigeria, particularly over the next three years as we aim to strengthen and expand our network and systems,” MTN Chairman Mcebisi Jonas said in an emailed statement.

MTN on Thursday formally withdraws its case challenging the jurisdiction of the country’s attorney general to charge it with $2 billion in back taxes. The claim was dropped earlier this month.

Nigeria is the biggest of MTN’s markets across Africa and the Middle East, but has also been a major headache for the Johannesburg-based company since a shock $5 billion fine was levied on the carrier in 2015. That penalty — later reduced to about $1 billion alongside a commitment by MTN to list its local unit in Lagos — was the start of a series of disputes that have, at least for now, all been resolved.

MTN shares fell 0.6% to 81.22 rand as of 9:39 a.m. in Johannesburg on Thursday, valuing the company at 153 billion rand ($10.4 billion).

Source: Bloomberg Business News