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Tag: MTN

  • MTN yet to submit application for listing – SEC

    MTN yet to submit application for listing – SEC

    Nigeria’s apex capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said that MTN Nigeria has not filed any application that could kick-start regulatory consideration of the proposed listing of the telco on the Nigerian stock market.

    SEC stated that while there had been some engagements with the telco, MTN Nigeria or its professional parties have not filed any formal application with the apex capital market regulator.

    MTN recently indicated it plans to list its shares by way of introduction, rather than the initial plan of an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

    By way of introduction, MTN Nigeria’s existing shares will be admitted to the Daily Official List of the Exchange for trading. MTN indicated it plans to list before the end of this first half.

    Under the extant rules, a private limited liability company seeking to list its shares shall convert to public limited liability company and register its shares with SEC.

    For listing by way of introduction, the company will then apply to the relevant Exchange for listing.

    In the case of IPO, the company will apply to SEC for approval of the IPO and the relevant Exchange if it intends to list after the IPO.

    Briefing newsmen after the meeting of the Capital Market Committee (CMC) in Lagos, Acting Director General, Securities and Investment Services, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Mary Uduk, noted that there is an established due process for listing and issuance of securities in the Nigerian capital market, which forms the basis for regulatory consideration.

    “There is no formal application as at now, until when they file application, that’s when we will know what method of listing they want,” Uduk said.

    MTN Nigeria had in 2016 appointed an advisory team and set out a road map towards listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in 2017.

    The telco however missed the 2017 target and has since been struggling with the listing.

    The board of MTN Nigeria had announced the appointment of Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited and its affiliates, Standard Bank of South Africa Limited and Standard Advisory London Limited and Citigroup Global Markets Limited as the joint transaction advisors and joint global coordinators for the proposed listing of MTN Nigeria on the NSE.

    It should be recalled that as part of the conditions to settle its $3.4 billion fine by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), MTN Nigeria had announced its intention to list its shares on the NSE as soon as commercially and legally possible.

     

     

  • MTN Nigeria speaks on delayed listing on NSE

    A senior official of MTN on Wednesday explained why the South Africa-based telecom giant was yet to list its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    Recall that In 2016, it was announced that MTN Group would offer part of its Nigerian unit to citizens of the country through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The company said it was planning to raise about $500 million from the exercise.

    But nearly three years after, the much-hyped proposed listing on the NSE was yet to become a reality because of postponements.

    It was initially said that the exercise would be done before end of the first half of 2018, but was later moved to end of the year.

    The latest information is that the listing of MTN Nigeria shares would now be done before the end of H1 2019 or early Q3 2019.

    Addressing journalists in Lagos on Wednesday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN, Mr Ferdinand Moolman said the company was making sure it sorted out some issues with the Nigerian government, which has imposed different fines on the telco.

    After an initial $1 billion fine for SIM registration infractions in 2016, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last August asked the company to refund $8.1 billion it allegedly repatriated illegally.

    MTN took the matter to court and an out-of-court settlement was reached and the firm was told to only pay $52.6 million.

    While that was going on, precisely in September last year, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Abubakar Malami, asked the network operator to pay $2 billion in outstanding taxes for 10 years.

    During his chat with newsmen on Wednesday, Mr Moolman emphasised that these issues were the main reason for the delay in listing MTN Nigeria shares on the stock exchange.

    “Truth be told, it would not be wise to offer shares to the public if we had outstanding issues still hanging.

    “We thank God we were able to resolve [the issue with the CBN] on December 12, 2018. So, we are now feverishly working toward listing, and we plan to do the listing before the end of H1 or early Q3 of this year,” the CEO said.

    Mr Moolman further said, “We have always been serious about the proposed listing, but like I said earlier, we have to remove every bottlenecks before we allow the exercise to fly.”

    “Nigerians already owned 20 percent of MTN shares, which are not publicly traded, but were sold through over-the-counter (OTC), and other investment schemes,” he added.

    “We needed to change to a public company because we are a private company at the moment before we can list. We need to send our directors to training for compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirements. So a lot of work had happened to prepare for the listing. Then the CBN issue happened,” Mr Moolman told journalists.

    Commenting on how the exercise would be done, the chief executive said, “We anticipate to do it in two phases; the first phase will be to list and then start trading in our shares and then lifting it for bigger participation.”

    However, he assured that, “There is a lot of value we can bring to this market,” relying on the 17 percent growth in revenue the firm recorded in 2018 financial year, where its turnover hit over N1 trillion, becoming the firm Nigerian company to achieve this feat.

     

  • Uganda goes tough on security breach, deports MTN’s chief executive officer

    Uganda goes tough on security breach, deports MTN’s chief executive officer

    Uganda’s security agencies and immigration department have deported the chief executive of the largest telecommunications company in the country over security reasons.

    MTN Uganda on Friday confirmed the deportation of Wim Vanhelleputte.

    “MTN has not been notified of the grounds for the deportation,” the company however tweeted.

    Vanhelleputte, a Belgian national, was deported to Belgium late on Thursday over circumstances of threatening national security, said police spokesman, Fred Enanga.

    Vanhelleputte is the fourth employee of the South African multinational company to be deported in the past several weeks, following the deportations of a French, Rwandan and Italian employee.

    MTN has appointed Gordian Kyomukama, currently chief technology officer, as acting chief executive to ensure business continuity.

    When he recently met Rob Shuter, chief executive officer of the MTN Group, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, said he had warned the company against “under-declaring calls’’ and “cheating government of revenue,” noting that the government had bought machines to track calls.

    Museveni insisted that the company must list its shares on the local stock exchange to enable Ugandans to own part of it.

  • MTN staff bags 15-year jail term for theft

    An Osun State High Court has sentenced a 38-year-old female MTN Nigeria Sales representative Oluwatoyin Raheem, to 15 years imprisonment for stealing N4.5 million and committing arson.

    Delivering the judgment in Osogbo on Wednesday, Justice Yinka Aderibigbe ordered Raheem to serve her term at the Ilesa prison.

    Aderibigbe said the convict deserved the sentence due to the magnitude of her offence, and having been found guilty of the criminal acts brought against her.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convict, who was arraigned on a five-count charge bordering on theft and arson, was not given an option of fine.

    The State Prosecution Counsel, Mr Abiodun Badiora, had told the court that the former sales representative committed the offences on June 1, 2017 at an MTN outlet owned by Wolid Investment Limited, an MTN Nigeria Partner, in Osogbo.

    Badiora said the convict stole the N4.5 million in her custody and also attempted to dubiously set the business outlet ablaze.

    He said the convict’s intention was to deceive the owner of the outlet that the money got burnt in the building before the fire was put out.

    The prosecutor said the offences contravened sections 443(A), 390(9), 1(1)(A), and were punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Free Fraud and Related Offenses Act 2006, and the Criminal Code Vap 34 Vol. 11, laws of Osun, 2003.

    The defence counsel, Mr Abdulfatai Abdulsalam, had prayed the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing his client, who had been pronounced guilty earlier.

    NAN

  • $8bn ‘Illegal’ Repatriation: FG, MTN settle out of court

    The federal government and mobile telecommunications firm, MTN, have reached an out-court-settlement in a suit filed by government lawyers accusing the company of illegally repatriating $8.1 billion out of the country, lawyers told a federal court Thursday.

    Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had accused the South African company of illegally moving the funds in contravention of foreign exchange regulations.

    The bank demanded that the company return the $8.1 billion “to the coffers of the CBN.”

    MTN denied any wrongdoings and filed a suit challenging the fine.

    On Thursday, a Lagos division of the Federal High Court entered the settlement terms as its judgment.

    Details of the settlement are not immediately known as they were not disclosed by the parties in open court.

    At the last court hearing last month, parties in the suit informed the court they were exploring an out-of-court settlement.

    On Thursday, MTN’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, who led other Senior Advocates of Nigeria — Damian Dodo, Fabian Ajokwu and Adeniyi Adegbonmire — told Saliu Saidu, the judge, that parties had resolved the dispute amicably.

    He said the terms of the settlement were filed on December 28 last year.

    CBN’s counsel, Henry Ejiofor, confirmed that parties had settled out of court.

    He urged the court to enter the terms of settlement as judgment.

    The Attorney General of the Federation, represented by Olanike Idenu, did not oppose the settlement proposal.

    He asked that his client’s name be struck out from the suit.

    Mr Saidu thanked the parties for not wasting judicial time by going through the rigour of a trial.

    He adopted the terms of settlement terms as the judgment of the court and struck out the AGF’s name from the suit.

    In November last year, the Nigerian Senate had said it would demand an explanation from the federal government on claims that it wants to reduce the fine from $8.1 billion to $800 million.

    According to the CBN, MTN and four banks – Standard Chartered Bank, Citi Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Diamond Bank – deliberately flouted the “laws and regulations…including the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1995 and the Foreign Exchange Manual, 2006.”

    The banks allegedly colluded with MTN, using irregular Certificates of Capital Importation (CCI), to illegally remit foreign exchange abroad.

    The four banks were slammed a total fine of N5.87 billion.

     

  • $8.1bn dispute: CBN closes case with MTN, asks coy to pay $52.6m

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has asked MTN Nigeria to pay $52.6m in settlement of the $8.1bn foreign exchange repatriation dispute.

    The African telecoms giant and the CBN, in separate statements issued on Monday, said that the agreement was reached after several intensive engagements in Lagos.

    MTN said the settlement was based on the realisation that certain Certificates of Capital Importation utilised in some private placement shares of about $1bn in 2008 were not properly issued as the company only got approval-in-principle from the CBN.

    “The CBN instructed MTN Nigeria to implement a notional reversal of the 2008 private placement of shares in MTN Nigeria at a net cost of circa N19.2bn – equivalent to $52.6m,” the telecoms company said.

    “MTN Nigeria and the CBN have agreed that they will resolve the matter on the basis that MTN Nigeria will pay the notional reversal amount without admission of liability.”

    The statement signed by the Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Isaac Okorafor, read in part, “The parties have resolved that execution of the terms of the agreement will lead to amicable disposal of the pending legal suit between the parties and final resolution of the matter.

    “The CBN assures foreign investors that the integrity of the CCIs issued by authorised dealers remains sacrosanct. Potential investors are encouraged to take advantage of the enormous investment opportunities that abound within Nigeria.”

    The two parties said they would continue discussions in relation to the issues dealt with in the resolution agreement.

    The network provider explained that the regulator reviewed additional documents it presented and it was resolved that the telco was no longer required “to reverse the historical dividend payments made to MTN Nigeria shareholders.”

    As part of the agreement, MTN said, “The CBN will regularise all the CCIs issued on the investment by shareholders of MTN Nigeria of circa $402,625,419 without regard to any historical disputes relating to those CCIs, thereby bringing to a final resolution all incidental disputes arising from this matter.”

    Regarding the MTN/Accountant General of Federation dispute on back taxes, MTN informed its shareholders that the legal process it initiated, seeking the restraining of the AGF from taking further action, was ongoing.

    MTN Nigeria maintained its innocence on the $2.1bn tax allegation, saying no additional payment, as claimed by the AGF, was due.

    The AGF matter came up for initial mention before the Federal High Court of Nigeria Lagos Judicial Division on November 8, 2018, and has been adjourned to February 7, 2019.

    It added that the suit had been adjourned to February 7, 2019 in the Federal High Court, Ikoyi.

    The CBN in late August had alleged that MTN and four of its banks – Standard Chartered Plc, Citigroup Inc., Stanbic IBTC Plc and Diamond Bank Plc – illegally repatriated $8.1bn from Nigeria while the office of the Attorney General claimed the company failed to remit $2bn back taxes.

    The CBN also imposed a total fine of N5.87bn on the four banks for allegedly remitting dividends with irregular CCIs on behalf of MTN Nigeria between 2007 and 2015.

     

  • Internet users in Nigeria hit 108.5m in Nov. — NCC

    Internet users in Nigeria increased marginally to 108.5 million in
    November, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said.

    The NCC made this known on Friday in its Monthly Internet Subscribers Data for December posted on its website.

    According to the data, Airtel, MTN and Globacom gained more internet subscribers during the month under review, while 9mobile remained on the same figure as in October.

    The data also showed that overall internet users increased to 108,457.051 October from the 107,106,975 in August,
    showing an increase of 1,350,076 new subscribers.

    The breakdown revealed that MTN gained more with 707,023 new internet users in November, increasing its
    subscription to 41,678,804 as against October.

    It said that Airtel gained 438,560 new users, increasing its subscription in November to 28,958,253 compared
    to 28,519,693 in October.

    Globacom gained 204,493 new internet users, increasing its subscription in October to 27,761,281 from 27, 556,788
    recorded in October.

    It further showed that 9mobile recorded 10,058,713 internet users in October, same as in November.

     

  • Active subscribers increase to 169m in Nov. – NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says there are 169,104,830 active subscribers on the telecommunications networks in November, as against 165,239,443 recorded in October 2018.

    The telecommunications regulator made this known in its Monthly Subscriber/Operator Data made available on its website on Friday.

    Active subscribers increased by 3.86 million in November, after the 165 million subscribers recorded in October.

    According to the data, 168,729,005 of the 169,104,830 active numbers subscribed to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network services.

    The GSM operators active customers increased by 3,865,588 in November, after the 164,865,417 subscribers recorded in October.

    The report stated that out of the GSM operators, MTN had 66,974,992 users in November, showing an increase of 1,323,282 from the 65,651,710 it recorded in October.

    Globacom’s figure increased in November by 1,691,133 with 43,273,188 customers, as against 41,582,055 in October.

    Airtel had 43,119,154 subscribers in the month under review, which showed an increase of 849,173 users, from the 42,269,981 recorded in October.

    9mobile recorded 15,361,691 customers in November, which was same in October 2018.

    The Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators recorded 124,815 subscribers in the month under review, indicating a decrease of 1,217, from 126,032 users in October.

    Visafone which is one of the two surviving CDMA operators had 120,355 customers, showing a decrease of 1,217 from the 121,572 recorded in October.

    On the other hand, Multi-Links had 4,460 in the month under review, same with the record of October.

    The monthly subscriber/operator data showed that the Fixed Wireless network (landline) consumers remained at 26,865 in November.

    One of the two landline networks, Visafone had 26,437 subscribers, while Multi-Links maintained its record of 428 customers in the month under review.

    The report indicated that the Fixed Wired operators (landline) subscriber base decreased by 166, coming down to 108,831 users in November, as against 108,997 recorded in October.

    In the Fixed Wired arena, MTN Fixed moved from 5,422 users in October to 5,499 users in November, thereby increasing by 77 users.

    Glo Fixed had 2,805 users in November, reducing by 401 customers from the October record of 3,206.

    IpNX network moved from 2,404 subscriber base in October to 2,357 in November, hence, its customers decreased by 47.

    It said that 21st Century Network had 98,170 customers in November, recording an increase of 205 users from its October record of 97,965 subscribers.

    The report also showed that the two Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) networks had 115,314 active users in November, as their customers increased by 3,182, from their October subscriber base of 112,132.

    Of the VOIP networks, Smile Communication had 107,366 customers, giving an increase of 3,106 users to its October result of 104,260.

    Ntel had 7,948 consumers subscribing to its products and services in November, showing an increase of 76 users to the October record of 7,872.

    The regulatory body said that Section 89, Subsection 3(c) of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 mandated it to monitor and report the state of the telecommunications industry.

    “The commission is mandated to provide statistical analyses and identify industry trends with regard to: services, tariffs, operators, technology, subscribers, issues of competition and dominance.

    “This is with a view to identifying areas where regulatory intervention will be needed.

    “The commission regularly conducts studies, surveys and produces reports on the telecommunications industry.

    “Therefore, telecommunications operators are obligated, under the terms of their licenses, to provide NCC with such data on a regular basis for analytical review and publishing,” NCC said.

     

  • $8.1b dispute: Court adjourns MTN, CBN case till 2019

    A Nigerian judge adjourned on Wednesday a hearing over an $8.1 billion dispute between South African telecoms giant MTN and the central bank until Jan. 22.

    The dispute is over the transfer of $8.1 billion of funds which Nigeria’s central bank said the company had sent abroad in breach of foreign-exchange regulations. MTN has denied any wrongdoing.

    Nigeria is MTN’s biggest market, accounting for a third of the South African company’s annual core profit. The mobile phone network serves 56 million people in Nigeria.

    The adjournment came at the request of the central bank and MTN lawyers.

    “We are still making moves towards an out of court settlement,” a central bank lawyer told the court.

    An MTN lawyer said discussions were ongoing.

    Nigeria is MTN’s biggest market, accounting for a third of the South African company’s annual core profit. The mobile phone network serves 56 million people in Nigeria.

     

  • $8.1bn demand: MTN opts for out-of-court settlement with CBN

    Telecommunications firm, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, on Tuesday, asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to further adjourn the hearing in the suit it filed to challenge the $8,134,312,397.63 being demanded from it by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    The $1.8bn demand by the CBN followed alleged forex remittances infraction by MTN.

    On Tuesday, MTN’s lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), told the court that his client had approached the CBN for possible amicable resolution of the dispute.

    He urged Justice Saliu Saidu to further adjourn the suit to enable parties to fully explore out-of-court resolution and deliberate on the terms of the settlement.

    The position was confirmed by CBN’s lead counsel, Mr Seyi Sowemimo (SAN), who added that the discussions for possible out-of-court settlement were in the advanced stage.

    Consequently, Justice Saidu adjourned till December 12, 2018, for a report of the settlement between the parties.

    MTN filed the suit, marked FHC/L/CS/1475/2018, in November, urged the court to the declaration that the CBN acted ultra vires its statutory powers when it wrote an August 28, 2018 letter to it demanding a refund of $8.1bn.

    The firm urged the court to hold that the CBN’s $8.1bn demand was “illegal, oppressive, abusive, unauthorised and unconstitutional.”

    The telecommunications giant urged the court to declare that that “the 1st defendant’s decision in its letter of August 28, 2018 with Ref No GBD/GOV/COM/DGF/118/121 addressed to the plaintiff and titled, ‘Investigation into the remittance of foreign exchange on the basis of the illegal capital importation certificates issued to MTN Nigeria Communications Limited’ were reached in breach of the plaintiff’s right to fair hearing.”

    It also urged the court to void a September 3, 2018 letter written to it by the 2nd defendant, the Attorney General of the Federation, demanding $8.1bn as “penalties for the offence of ‘infraction of forex remittances’.”

    MTN sought a court order “restraining the 1st and 2nd defendants from giving effect to the decisions, demands, and directives in their letters of August 28, 2018, and September 3, 2018, respectively.”

    However, the CBN, in its statement of defence and counter-claim, urged the court to dismiss MTN’s suit, insisting that the telecommunications giant must refund $8.1bn to the Federal Government.

    The dispute over $8.1bn repatriated funds started when the CBN alleged that MTN used improperly issued certificates to transfer funds out of Nigeria after the telecom giant converted shareholder loans in its Nigerian unit to preference shares in 2007, but MTN denied the allegations.

    The apex bank said MTN’s banks failed to verify that the telecom group had met all the country’s foreign exchange regulations.