Ralph Mupita Says Worst Is Over For Mtn In Nigeria

Nigeria has suffered chronic dollar shortages that have forced authorities to devalue the naira as part of the governments measures to stabilise the currency and attract investment.

Coupled with high inflation and interest rates, this has driven up costs and widened MTN Nigerias pre-tax loss by more than 200 to ?550.3-billion R6.4-billion.

At group level, South Africa-headquartered MTN reported a loss before tax of R4.4-billion in the year to 31 December, from a 2023 profit of R12.2-billion.

The Nigeria business has a number of initiatives aimed at restoring profit and addressing its position when liabilities exceed assets, including renegotiating tower leases and a tariff hike, which was approved in January.

That pain which weve had for 18 months, is abating somewhat the business is growing very strongly. So Im actually very bullish and confident that well see strong recovery in Nigeria, Mupita said in a media call.