By Ayomide Otitoju
MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita has revealed plans to reduce the Group’s shareholding in MTN Nigeria from 76 percent to 65 percent through a public offer—once the unit returns to profitability and resumes dividend payments.
Speaking during an editors’ roundtable this week, Mupita reiterated the Group’s long-standing commitment to enhancing local ownership across its markets, with Nigeria being a key focus. “We have potentially a sell-down in Nigeria at some point in time—approximately 11 percent,” he said. “We’ve always maintained that over time, we want more Nigerians owning the company, and we’re prepared to reduce our stake to 65 percent.”
The planned public offering would be MTN’s second major retail share sale in Nigeria, following its successful 2021 transaction, which saw 575 million shares sold to Nigerian investors. That offering was oversubscribed, leading to an allocation of 661.25 million shares after a 15 percent greenshoe option was triggered. It reduced MTN Group’s stake in MTN Nigeria from 78.8 percent to 75.6 percent.
More than 126,000 investors, including retail buyers and institutional entities such as pension funds representing over 6.5 million contributors, participated in that sale. The Group had previously announced plans to further cut its stake to 65 percent.
However, Mupita stressed that the new offer would not proceed until MTN Nigeria resolves its negative equity position and resumes dividend distribution. Currently, MTN Nigeria’s shares trade at N235 on the Nigerian Exchange.
Despite achieving record revenue of N3.36 trillion in 2024—a 36 percent increase from N2.47 trillion in 2023—MTN Nigeria reported a loss after tax of N400.44 billion, marking a 192 percent surge from the N137.02 billion loss recorded in the previous year. The losses were largely attributed to macroeconomic challenges, including high inflation and a sharp naira devaluation, which significantly increased operating expenses and reduced shareholder value.
MTN Nigeria, once the Group’s largest revenue contributor, has been overtaken by MTN South Africa due to these headwinds. However, the Group remains optimistic about a turnaround in 2025.
Mupita projected a “V-shaped” recovery in MTN Nigeria’s service revenue, supported by recent reforms such as the removal of fuel subsidies, naira stabilisation, and improved foreign exchange liquidity. “The continued normalisation of these factors, particularly naira stability, should have positive impacts on consumer spending power and our business operations,” Mupita stated in MTN Group’s 2024 financial report.
