ISSUES WITH MTN WILL BE RESOLVED – FEDERAL GOVT.
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By Joseph Omoniyi
It seems the Federal Government of Nigeria may be ready to take a subtle position on Africa’s leading mobile operator, MTN, over the repatriation of $8.13 in dividends.
Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, speaking with newsmen on Tuesday, in Abuja at a monetary policy committee meeting said, “we’ll resolve the matter.” “Everyone will be happy,” Emefiele was quoted.
In August, Nigeria had shocked South Africa’s MTN and foreign investors when it demanded the telecoms giant to pay back $8.13 billion (6.96 billion euros) that it allegedly illegally took out of the country, and fined four banks involved in the transfer.
Days later, in early September, President Muhammadu Buhari’s attorney general followed up with another $2 billion tax fine.
With the economy still fragile after a deep recession in 2016 and elections looming early next year, many private sector players in Nigeria believe the move could dent investor sentiment.
It is not the first time MTN has been sanctioned by the Nigerian authorities.
In 2015, MTN was fined $5.2 billion by Nigeria’s telecoms regulator NCC for failing to disconnect unregistered SIM cards on its network.
The fine was later reduced to $1.7 billion after a series of negotiations with the Nigerian government.
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