MTN Pays N30bn as Part Settlement of Fine

• MTN Pays N30bn as Part Settlement of Fine

MTN has made a payment of N30 billion to the federal government as a part settlement of the N330 billion fine imposed on the telecoms group for not disconnecting unregistered SIM cards, an MTN source told Reuters thursday.

Africa’s largest telecoms company has already paid N80 billion of the total amount owed, the source said.

The fine is due for payment in six installments over three years, MTN has explained.

MTN Nigeria was originally fined $5.2 billion last October for failing to deactivate more than five million unregistered SIM cards, but the fine was reduced in a settlement that paved the way for MTN to list its subsidiary on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Nigeria has been cracking down on unregistered SIM cards, concerned that they are used for criminal activities in a country fighting an insurgency by Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

MTN, which operates in 20 countries, had set aside $600 million last year to pay the fine.