The Nation Newspaper

Tag: MTN

  • MTN resumes dividend payment to shareholders

    MTN Nigeria said following a resolution of its dispute with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), its business in the country has resumed dividend payments to shareholders.

    It said it expects to report an almost double earnings for last year when it releases its figures on March 7.

    The news came as Huawei announced it has concluded a business innovation agreement with MTN Group, extending a working relationship which dates back 17 years.

    A statement said the pair will work in areas spanning data service growth, rich media services, mobile financial services, enterprise and wholesale propositions. The agreement is said to “move MTN and Huawei beyond the traditional trading relationship” to include strategic research, business scenario planning, joint product development and joint go-to-market.

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    COO of MTN, Jens Schulte-Bockum, said: “In the historical cooperation between MTN and Huawei, Huawei helped MTN build a top-quality network with leading technologies, excellent quality, and zero network security incidents.”

    Noting the company’s work in emerging markets, he continued: “To further eliminate the digital divide in these countries, improve people’s lives, and achieve the vision of Digital MTN, it is willing to work with Huawei to bring benefits to the public and society.”

  • MTN Group’s music business gets new officer

    An expert, Mr. Oyebowale Akideinde has been appointed as Head of Over the Top (OTT) Music Services for the newly acquired music streaming entity by MTN Group, Simfy Africa.

    The appointment of Oyebowale, who is expected to enhance the company’s digital music streaming services to its customers across Africa and the Middle East, took effect from February 1, 2019.

    Oyebowale joins MTN from Boomplay Music where he served as the Regional Director for West Africa. His career spans over 17 years primarily in consumer goods, e-business, financial, media and digital sectors. He has also worked in IT, project management, strategy, product and business development, and marketing.

    He holds an MSc in Business Information Systems from the University of Hertfordshire, a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Lagos and a General Music Studies Specialist certificate from Berklee College of Music. Oyebowale has also garnered a number of industry related awards and accolades throughout his career.

    Commenting on Oyebowale’s appointment, Rob Shuter, MTN Group President and CEO said, “We are very pleased about Oye’s appointment as he brings passion and knowledge of the rich media industry, this will stand him in good stead to support MTN’s expansion of OTT digital services to our customers.”

    MTN acquired Simfy, dubbed as Africa’s leading music-streaming business, in November 2018. It boasts a broad catalogue of music and access to more than 42 million tracks; the entity has also partnered record labels and content distribution platforms such as Warner Music, Universal Music Group and Content Connect Africa to bring subscribers a wide range of music.

  • MTN embraces digital transformation with Oracle Cloud apps

    Telecoms giant MTN has chosen Oracle Cloud applications (apps) to drive one of the largest digital transformations in the global telecom industry across all its core business operations.

    It said the implementation will help the telco to drive efficiency, scale operations and integration across its local and regional operations.

    Executive Boost at MTN, Belinda O’ Neil, said thetwo informationn communication technology (ICT) firms partnered last year to complete the design of the Oracle Cloud Applications while this year will focus on finalising the build and deploying across our markets.

    Senior Vice President – Business Applications,  Oracle, Arun Khehar, said: “With clear signs of economic recovery across key African markets, MTN’s decision to undertake large scale digital transformation will be instrumental in achieving strategic business objectives. We are confident that the deployment of the Oracle Cloud enabled digital core will help MTN deliver value for all stakeholders and create differentiation needed to achieve market leadership.”

    The Oracle suite of cloud applications will also help MTN improve working capital through efficiencies in inventory management and reduce obsolescence. The implementation will drive further productivity through automation, self-service, Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile application capabilities; besides also enhancing management visibility across all business operations for real time performance measurement.

    Under this initiative, MTN will implement Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP); Supply Chain Management (SCM); Enterprise Performance Management (EPM); Customer Experience (CX); Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Oracle Service Cloud solutions.

  • MTN Foundation upgrades lab

    The MTN Foundation has completed the installation and upgrade of advanced prenatal diagnostic equipment at the DNA laboratory of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Nigeria (SCFN). The handover ceremony was held recently at the National Sickle Cell Centre in Idi-Araba, Lagos.

    With this latest upgrade and equipment installation, the DNA laboratory now operates at full capacity, capable of providing end-to-end diagnosis of sickle cell anemia for unborn children of expectant mothers. Specifically, the new equipment will enable doctors diagnose a baby’s sickle cell status even before it is born, empowering parents with the ability to make informed choices concerning their child’s health.

    Prior to this, all test samples had to be taken abroad for further analysis and diagnosis after preliminary tests were conducted in Nigeria as the country lacked the capacity for such tests. Speaking at the handover ceremony, Chairman MTN Foundation, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, said, “With one in four Nigerians carrying the sickle cell gene, investment in research and technology in this field ensures that the sickle cell centre continues its invaluable work of empowering our mothers and children with access to cost-effective, life-saving in-country care.”

    Adelusi-Adeluyi further stated that the foundation will continue to support the DNA Laboratory in keeping to its commitment to improve health care delivery and capacity development in Nigeria’s health sector. This is in addition to promoting other initiatives under the foundation’s mother and child cause aimed at reducing mortality rate.

    In his remarks, Chairman Sickle Cell Foundation of Nigeria, Prof Olu Akinyanju, said MTN Foundation’s intervention was a critical step in aiding the SCFN’s efforts to provide world-class care to sickle cell patients in Nigeria and West Africa.

  • MTN sees big earnings boost

    African telecoms giant, MTN Group, said yesterday that it expects to report an improvement of at least 20 per cent in headline earnings per share for the 12 months ended December last year.

    The carrier, the largest in Africa, which has endured a difficult time over the past 12 months, particularly in its biggest market, Nigeria, in a note, said it expects to post an increase of 36.4 cents and 49.2 cents respectively in both headline earnings per share (HEPS) and attributable earnings per share (EPS) for the 12-month period.

    This is compared to headline earnings per share of 182 cents and attributable earnings per share of 246 cents for the prior financial year.

    MTN said it expects to publish its results on Thursday, 7 March 2019.

    The group’s share price has declined markedly over the past year, following ongoing issues with Nigeria’s regulators and monetary officials. MTN did, however, settle allegations that it illegally transferred $8.1 billion of funds out of Nigeria, at the end of December.

    Bloomberg reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s decision to clear MTN of wrongdoing in its repatriation of dividends over an eight-year period meant it would cost the Johannesburg-based company just $52.6 million to satisfy Nigerian officials over their concerns with a 2008 private placement.

    Nigerian authorities originally wanted a full reversal of the $8.1 billion of dividends.

    However, MTN has had persistent run-ins with authorities as it chases big sales growth opportunities in Nigeria. There are still major hurdles for it to overcome in its largest market: it faces a Nigerian court hearing on 7 February over a separate claim that it owes $2 billion in back taxes. Investors however remain skeptical.

  • MTN sues Kogi for N5m over shut BTS

    MTN Nigeria has sued the Kogi State Government to court for shutting down its base stations (BTS) in Lokoja, the state capital, since January 23.

    MTN’s Corporate Relations Executive, Tobechukwu Okigbo, said the telco is suing for N5 million for damages.

    The state government had shut down the station, leading to disruption in services, over alleged failure of MTN to remit outstanding tax liability of N120 million.

    MTN had said the minister of finance had not approved the taxes being requested by Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS).

    Okigbo said the attorney-general of Kogi and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) were also named as parties to the suit filed at a state high court in Lokoja.

    He said MTN was asking the court for a declaration that the act of shutting down its BTS be deemed unconstitutional, null and void and a declaration that the parties involved did not have the power to perform such acts in the first place.

    Okigbo said among other reliefs being sought, damages amounting to N5 million, including an order directing the defendants to unseal and release to the MTN all its equipment and property.

    The statement read: “This act of the first, second and third defendants has greatly affected the business and fortunes of the plaintiff.

  • MTN protests Kogi shutdown of facilities

    MTN Nigeria has expressed grave concern over the arbitrary shutdown of its base transmitting facilities by the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS), over allegations that it has not met its tax obligations to the government.

    The state government is demanding for immediate payment of social service contribution levy, employee development levy and annual rent for Right-of-Way (RoW) on fibre optics cable.

    MTN’s Corporate Relations Executive, Tobechukwu Okigbo, said the Taxes and Levies Act which introduces the Social Service Contribution and Economic Development levies mandates the Joint Tax Board (JTB) to recommend chargeable fees which will be subject to the Minister of Finance’s approval.

    He said:“To the best of our knowledge, the Minister of Finance’s recommendation as provided in the Act is yet to be issued, and as such, it is unclear if the imposition of the fee by the Kogi State government is on solid legal footing. As a responsible corporate citizen, we accord the highest priority to our sub-national tax commitments. We wish to state that we have met in full all our tax obligations to the Kogi State government and are not in arrears.

     “On request, we have furnished the KGIRS on multiple occasions with documentary evidence proving our full compliance with extant state laws on the matter. At this stage, the demands of the KGIRS, if honoured, amounts to multiple taxation and the arbitrary shut down of our base transceiver stations and harassment of our partners will stand in the way of a reasonable resolution.”

    MTN regrets the disruption of services to its customers in Kogi and some neighbouring states and remains fully committed to working with the Kogi State government and the relevant regulatory authorities in reaching a timely and lasting solution.

  • $8.1b MTN fine: Court adopts settlement terms as judgment

    The Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday adopted the settlement terms in a suit by MTN Nigeria Communications Limited against the Federal Government.

    MTN challenged the $8,134,312,397.63 demanded from it by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over alleged forex remittance infractions.

    But the telecoms firm prayed the court to restrain the CBN and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) from imposing punitive sanctions against it.

    The CBN accused MTN Nigeria of improper dividend repatriations and demanded that $8.1 billion be returned “to the coffers of the CBN”.

    On Thursday, MTN’s lawyer Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), who led other Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) Mr Damian Dodo, Fabian Ajokwu and Adeniyi Adegbonmire, told Justice Saliu Saidu that parties have resolved the dispute amicably.

    He said terms of settlement were filed last December 28.

    CBN’s counsel Mr Henry Ejiofor confirmed that parties have settled out of court.

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

    The AGF, represented Olanike Idenu, did not oppose the settlement proposal.

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

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

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

    The Federal Government accused MTN of unpaid taxes on foreign payments and imports, asking it to pay approximately $2billion in relation to the taxes.

    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 combined N5.87 billion fine.

    MTN had denied the allegations and subsequently filed the suit.

    It sought a declaration that it was “not liable to refund $8,134,312,397.63 to the coffers of the first defendant (CBN) premised on the decisions reached in the first defendant’s letter of 28/8/2018.”

    It is prayed the court to declare that “the first 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’ was reached in breach of the plaintiff’s right to fair hearing.”

    The plaintiff urged Justice Saidu to hold that CBN “lacks the power to determine the civil obligations or penal liabilities of the plaintiff.”

    It also prayed the court to declare that CBN acted ultra vires (outside) its statutory powers when it wrote the August 18 letter to it demanding a refund of $8.1billion.

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    MTN asked the court to hold that the $8.1billion demand was “illegal, oppressive, abusive, unauthorised and unconstitutional.”

    It also urged the court to void the September 3, 2018 letter written to it by the AGF demanding $8.1billion as “penalties for the offence of ‘infraction of forex remittances’.”

    MTN prayed for an order “restraining the first and second defendants from giving effect to the decisions, demands and directives in their letters of August 28, 2018 and September 3, 2018, respectively.”

    But, the CBN, in its statement of defence and counter-claim, is urged the court to dismiss MTN’s suit for lacking in merit.

    It insisted that the plaintiff must refund the $8.1billion to the Federal Government.

  • MTN concludes Season of Surprises

    MTN has closed the year  with the grand finale of its Season of Surprises, in which the telco said it touched nearly 400, 000 lives in 21 days.

    During the closing event and the unveiling of the total number of lives touched by the campaign that went round the country,  its Chief Transformation Officer,  Olubayo Adekanmbi, said  the initiative was one of the numerous ways the telco showed that it truly cares.

    On the occasion,  Senior Manager, High Value, Marketing & Strategy Division,  Idowu Adesokan, provided a breakdown of the over 90 locations that experienced the campaign.

    The first port of call was Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Benue State and Abuja,  followed by visits to different malls where hundreds of shoppers were given free vouchers that enabled them fill their carts. In all, over 50 supermarkets were visited with thousands of beneficiaries.

    Students across various levels of education also benefited from the initiative. Nine tertiary institutions (Colleges of Education and Polytechnics) and 10 public primary schools were visited by volunteers bearing gifts.  Hundreds of people in 50 fuel stations got surprised with vouchers to fill up their fuel tanks.

    Patients in 27 general hospitals received gift bags from MTN workers who also surprised passengers on 12 train trips from Abuja to Kaduna with refunds of their ticket fare.

    Every passenger in 59 buses heading out from two Bus Parks (in Lagos and Abuja) received refunds of bus fare, while five flights filled with passengers also received the same treatment.

    All gifts were given at random, with no criteria as to who was surprised.

     

     

     

  • MTN kicks against substance abuse

    Substance abuse is slowly destroying the next generation of youth, MTN Foundation has said, adding that it is with that grim realisation that it, along with various organisations and associations launched the Anti-Substance Abuse Programme (ASAP) at George Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    ASAP is a multi-stakeholder initiative that will deliver interventions and fieldwork campaigns that reduce the rate of first-time users of addictive substances within the 10 to 25-year age range.

    The event was opened by the Chairman of MTN Foundation, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, who said the ASAP initiative to is significant in Nigeria’s ecosystem due to the constant rise in the prevalence of substance abuse among Nigerian youths.

    The Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, Nonny Ugboma, said it was designed to save the young ones, the future. She cited the former Director General, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Mr. Otunba Ipinmisho, who stated in a 2016 interview, that 40 per cent of Nigerian youths are on hard drug abuse.

    She said: “Then we heard from various stakeholders, (Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Association of Community Pharmacists, Association of Psychiatrists of Nigeria, etc), who gathered to witness the launch and we were able to glean a wealth of knowledge from them.

    “We had to sit up when the room was darkened in order for a former addict to tell her story. By the time she was 15 she had become a ‘professional’ in substances and had begun dating men in their forties. She became a shadow of herself and at one point she contemplated suicide. It dawned on us all, the reality. Afterwards, we heard riveting experiences from the stakeholders. And we sobered even more,” she said.

    Consultant Neuro-Psychiatrist, Dr. Maymunah Kadiri, recalled how a parent called her at 3:00am to inform her that he was rushing to her with his child in the car – the man’s son had overdosed on a substance and was delirious.

    Beyond substance abuse, Public Health Consultant, Dr. Atinuke Onayiga, said strong parental influence stopped her from using substances when she encountered them. Onayiga said this was an important factor that parents have to bear in mind.

    “When we heard that a 2017 study showed that at least three million bottles of codeine were sold daily, in only two states in Nigeria – we gaped. That is the reality,” she said.

    “ASAP’s initial phase is expected to have a six-month duration, for numerous activities in various regions around the country and we are humbled by what the initiative has set out to achieve.