South African telecoms group MTN will take immediate steps to list
shares in Nigeria as part of a deal to settle a dispute over
unregistered SIM cards and will also issue an apology, according to a
copy of the agreement seen by Reuters.
The company said on
Friday, after months of talks, that it had agreed to pay a fine of $1.7
billion in a settlement with the Nigerian government for failing to
deactivate more than 5 million unregistered SIM cards. [nL8N1922BY]
Nigeria,
battling its worst economic crisis for decades, had agreed to cut the
fine initially demanded by almost 70 percent after MTN threatened to
shut down its operations in the West African nation, a Nigerian official
said on Friday.
Under the agreement MTN will strengthen its
presence in Africa’s biggest economy by listing its local unit, a plan
held up by the prolonged dispute, according to the copy of the agreement
obtained by Reuters on Monday.
“MTN undertakes immediate steps
to ensure the listing of its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as
soon as commercially and legal possible after the date of execution,”
the agreement said.
The South African mobile phone giant will
also issue an apology to the Nigerian government and people within one
month of the execution of the deal, the agreement said.
The group
– which filed a lawsuit against the fine before opting for an
out-of-court deal – will also cover its own legal costs, the agreement
said.
Nigeria has been cracking down on unregistered SIM cards,
concerned they are used for criminal activity in a country fighting an
insurgency by Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
The fine will
be paid by MTN Nigeria over three years and is only around a third of
the $5.2 billion figure initially demanded by the west African country
last October.
Nigeria’s House of Representatives was due to
question the communications minister and a senior official from the
regulator on Monday, but the hearing was delaying for one week,
lawmakers said.
The lower house of parliament said on Friday it
was surprised by the deal as its own probe into the MTN fine had not
been concluded. In March, the lower house launched an investigation into
whether reducing the initial fine of $5.2 billion would require
changing the law.
MTN is the largest mobile phone operator in
Nigeria with 62 million subscribers and the west African nation accounts
for about one third of its revenues.
Africa’s largest telecoms
company has already paid 50 billion of the 330 billion naira owed. The
rest will be paid in six instalments over three years, the company said.
It set aside $600 million in March to pay the fine.
http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/06/14/mtn-take-immediate-steps-list-nigeria-part-1-7-bln-fine-deal/
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