MTN Group’s CEO Rob Shuter is optimistic about settling its ongoing dispute with Nigeria’s telecom authorities, which claim that the operator owes the country $10.1 billion.
Nigeria’s attorney general has alleged that MTN owes $2 billion in unpaid taxes, while the country’s Central Bank maintains that the group has illegally repatriated $8.1 billion from Nigeria over several years. MTN will appear in court next month over the tax claim.
Speaking to South Africa’s Fin24, Shuter said that the firm is looking to settle the issue out of court. To this end, MTN is investigating possible legal avenues while holding talks aimed at resolving the matter with Nigeria’s Central Bank.
MTN will be keen to resolve the dispute amicably; Nigeria is the South African operator’s largest market, and while the heavy fines have been a source of woe, MTN remains steadfast in its plans for launching an IPO of its Nigerian unit.
