A DECISION by Nigerian authorities to impose a fine on MTN Group Ltd. of more than 20 percent of its market value risks foreign investment in an economy struggling to cope with sliding oil prices, currency restrictions and no finance minister.

“The brazenness of Nigerian authorities to levy such a penalty is attracting attention,” Gareth Brickman, an Africa analyst at ETM Analytics NA LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, said in an e-mailed note to clients on Wednesday.

“Investor perceptions of Nigeria have been strained to say the least by policy makers’ management of the naira and the new administrations’ lack of progress on economic reform.”

Nigeria’s telecommunications regulator this week fined Johannesburg-based MTN, Africa’s biggest mobile-phone operator, $5.2 billion for failing to disconnect customers with unregistered SIM cards and having incomplete data, causing the shares to post their biggest three-day plunge in Johannesburg since 2008.

 Nigeria is MTN’s biggest market, where it had 62 million customers by September.

Investors are losing faith in President Muhammadu Buhari, who has yet to name his cabinet five months after taking office. He has backed foreign-currency controls imposed by the central bank that’s led to an overvalued naira, restricted imports and curbed economic growth in Africa’s biggest oil producer.

The economy grew at 2.4% in the second quarter from a year ago, its slowest pace this decade.

“Are investors not supposed to respect the laws of the land where they are operating?” Tony Ojobo, spokesman for the Nigerian Communications Commission, said by phone from Abuja. “It is in accordance with our regulations and guidelines that if service providers don’t comply they’ll face a penalty.”

Security concerns

The fine has reinforced investors’ cautious mood, Brickman said. “These kinds of incidents will only add to the checklist of reasons for investors to stay away for the foreseeable future,” he said.

MTN said on Oct. 26 that the penalty relates to the timing of the disconnection of 5.1 million MTN Nigeria subscribers in August and September and is based on a fine of 200,000 naira ($1,005) for each unregistered subscriber.

Yinka David-West, a senior fellow in Information Systems at Lagos Business School, said the stricter rules on registration were aimed at improving security in a country where kidnapping for ransom is rife and the government is struggling to end an insurgency by Boko Haram militants in the northeast.

“This registration exercise started because of a security issue,” she said by phone on Wednesday. “It’s not just about having a database of names and numbers. It’s a tool that is supposed to help fight terrorism, kidnapping, money laundering and all sorts of issues.”

-Bloomberg
http://m.mgafrica.com/article/2015-10-28-nigeria-risks-hurting-investment-with-brazen-52-billion-mtn-fine-in-a-struggling-economy
Cc lalasticlala

Buhari is a totally confused old soldier.

Bad for the Economy but MTN deserves all they've got

.

Lol....nothing special about being the 2nd to comment or making frontpage...duuurh!!

@topic
my mother was nearly retrenched from work yesterday,all thanks to the economic downturn leading to massive sack of workers...dnt be deceived most government institutions are sacking workers or making them go on compulsory retirement,they can no longer pay salaries,nigeria at the moment is grasping at straws with the government making it look as if evrr'n is ok,the apc led administration should buckle up.
Why will NCC fine mtn such an enormous amount?? Is that a new method of generating revenue for the government? This will definately trigger massive workers retrenchment,mtn workers brace up for the inevitable...jobs are surely going to be lost.

The inventor of the term wailing wailers who recently became a new member of the AWW (Association of Wailing Wailers) said recently that our Economy has nosedived. The reality is dawning on everybody. What the CHANGE brought to us is suffering and smiling.

Talk about the one difference between Scalar and Vector.

And the APC e-Diots would say 'Give him one year before you judge"..Buhari is super clueless evident with his lack of economic direction,any quality leadership, and unnecessary world tours etc yet some blind gullible youth would keep masturbating on him,even the world sees Nigeria is nosediving into serious economic crises,soon naira would be as worthless as Zimbabwean dollar,maybe then you lots on naira land would stop screaming wailing wailers and call the Daura President to order


ThankGod most of them around me are beginning to grow "common sense"

APC is a scam,Buhari is a senile old snail

Cc lalasticlala
For the link doubters.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-28/nigeria-risks-investment-with-brazen-5-2-billion-mtn-penalty

IMF has even encouraged CBN to allow the naira depreciate....they have already stockpiled dollars meant for loan,oh yea! They are waiting for nigeria to come ask for it,conscripting us to perpetual beggars,´price of basic commodities are skyrocketting to the third heavens,no jobs,yet people are losing the ones they have.i just hope and pray we don't end the zibabwean way! Imagine buying agege bread for fifty billion naira!!lol i dnt pray we get to that..

If the economy is said to be suffering under PMB,then under GEJ,by now,Nigeria would have stopped being called a country economically, politically and socially.
Economy under PMB wud always be 100x better than it cud have been under the fisherman.

Economy is suffering under Buhari. perhaps economy must have died if GEJ were to be in power till now.

Baba clearing another administration mess since 1257A.D

The active Change proclaimers keep telling me that the end will justify the means.... They say that Nigerians may not understand what Buhari is doing but on the long run it will unfold beautifully.

To all of the above I'd simply say - Let's see where all these lead us. I just hope it doesn't end up becoming an outrageous battle for change where the bad outweighs the good.

Buhari is the Minister of everything. Fear not.



https://www.nairaland.com/2698179/beautiful-tennis-design-bluetooth-speaker

Body language
Change is here

Them g still come back

Where is that smelly and useless "body language" of the illiterate Certificateless president when you need it

They've been shortchanged, I never believed in their change. Let them enjoy it while is lasts.

Hmm

Its for a season

Which way Nigeria?

Click like if you see " pdp continuity" or click share if you see "apc change"

***************************
With the poll so far as the Jegga I hereby declare that we are having "pdp continuity"

U lack wisdom

doctokwus:
If the economy is said to be suffering under PMB,then under GEJ,by now,Nigeria would have stopped being called a country economically, politically and socially.
Economy under PMB wud always be 100x better than it cud have been under the fisherman.

[size=18pt]EVEN IF THE WHOLE ECONOMY CRASH, WE WILL STILL VOTE FOR HIM IN 2019. NEXXXT [/size]

Daura President has failed Nigeria.he shuld retire

okay

doctokwus:
If the economy is said to be suffering under PMB,then under GEJ,by now,Nigeria would have stopped being called a country economically, politically and socially.
Economy under PMB wud always be 100x better than it cud have been under the fisherman.

Like PassingShot and omenka, you're an irredeemable zombie-esque fool.

"It is in accordance with our regulations and guidelines that if service providers don’t comply they’ll face a penalty.”

Nonsense write-up from Bloomberg...this media outfit should take their western influence and interest back to base. This is how they were encouraging Jonathan and his ministers to "kontinue" stealing in the name of development. Things have indeed CHANGED, no room for unnecessary and biased reportage of economics issues in Nigeria due to silly interests at this time.

We have a useless president.

Dem deh craze.

No be d same investors be people like Mtn and Dstv that common man cannot patronize dem.

Craze deh worry hem.

What do u expect baba one chance to do We youth, let's take yield to adult advice often times....

Just watch out for further negative market reaction when these set of ministerial angels take over.
So far non of them command confidence in the financial world.They are just a collection of PMB's family and friends.
Global markets respond positively to competent people not nepotism.

bubu will be the worst president in the history of nigeria