Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s largest telecommunication service provider, MTN Nigeria, is planning a $3.5 billion investment in the country in the next five years, following a renewed economic hope promised by the nation’s new President, Mr Bola Tinubu.
This was disclosed at a meeting at the State House, Abuja, where the MTN delegate, led by its Group Chairman, Mr Mcebisi Jonas and including Group President/CEO of MTN, Mr Ralph Mupita, Chairman of MTN Nigeria, Mr Ernest Ndukwe and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Olutokun Karl Toriola met with President Bola Tinubu at the State House.
Speaking on the sidelines, Mr Jonas said that by N2028, it was targeting that investment in its most profitable market, Nigeria, where the telecommunications company gets its highest return on investment.
MTN, which has the lion’s share of customers in Nigeria, in the 2022 financial year alone recorded N2 trillion in revenue spurred by growth in its data services.
Mr Jonas said the company was favouring Nigeria over other markets like the Middle East and focusing inward, with a goal of infusing a pan-African approach in terms of investments.
He noted that this was a result of the moves carried out by the new Nigerian leader in one month in office. President Tinubu had since taken office, removed fuel subsidies, ousted the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and floated the Naira.
According to Mr Jonas, these reforms had been styled to favour business and encourage inclusive development.
He added that this showed that he was ready for business and further promised to support the mobilisation of other investors with about $1.5 trillion to look toward Nigeria.
“The message you have given us is that Nigeria is investible, and with your election, we are seeing decisive, prompt, and keen interest in structural reforms,’’ the MTN Group Chairman noted.
The $3.5 billion investment promise by the MTN team is 400 per cent more than the five-year investment of $700 million promised by its rival, Airtel, when it visited Mr Tinubu late in June.
According to Airtel’s global chairman, Mr Sunil Mittal, it would be investing that amount based on the unification of the foreign exchange market, which he said would give foreign and local investors more confidence that an enabling environment had been opened, adding that the economy had also moved into global reckoning.
