MTN Nigeria: We paid over N2trn taxes, levies in 20 years

MTN Nigeria, the largest network by market share, says it paid more than N2 trillion in taxes to the Nigerian government in the last 20 years.

In a recent statement marking its 20th anniversary, the company said the amount includes taxes, levies and fees paid to the Nigerian economy.

The telco giant said it had also “created 2.5 million jobs and contributed N2.3 trillion in taxes”.

Two years ago, the company had said it invested more than N2 trillion in the Nigerian economy and paid more than N1.7 trillion in taxes, levies and other regulatory fees.

On August 8, 2001, MTN Nigeria said the first call was made in Lagos through its network and connected one million customers by 2003.

In 2006, it reached the 10 million customers milestone, and by 2013 it had connected 50 million subscribers.

The telco also added that it supported the economy with over N22 billion in corporate social investment and N2.81 trillion in capital investment.

Over the years, the company had faced regulatory issues from the Nigerian government.

In October 2015, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) imposed a N1.04 trillion fine on the telco for alleged non-compliance with the deadline set by the commission to disconnect all unregistered SIM cards.

The regulator reduced the fine to N330 billion after MTN agreed to list shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) – now Nigerian Exchange Limited, among other considerations.

In September 2018, Abubakar Malami, the attorney general of the federation, also demanded that the telco pay $2 billion in tax arrears.

Last year, Malami dropped the multi-billion dollar tax dispute.

On different occasions, MTN denied wrongdoings and reiterated its commitment to comply with the Nigerian tax laws.

Marking its two-decade anniversary in the country, the company said it would reconstruct the Enugu-Onitsha expressway as part of its tax remittance to the federal government and commitment to public-private partnerships.

In its unaudited results for the half-year ended June 30, 2021, Karl Toriola, CEO of MTN Nigeria, said the company would invest N640 billion to expand broadband access across the country, in line with the federal government’s 2020-2025 national broadband plan.