The fine imposed on MTN Nigeria over unregistered SIM cards has been reduced to US$3.4 billion from $5.2 billion, MTN announced on Thursday.
The South Africa-based telco also revealed that MTN Nigeria CEO Michael Ikpoki, and its head of regulatory and corporate af fairs Akinwale Goodluck, have resigned, and that the company has initiated a management restructuring in a bid to improve operational oversight.
MTN Nigeria was slapped with a fine in late October after failing to disconnect 5.1 million unregistered SIM cards in accordance with the timeline set by telco regulator the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The telco was fined 200,000 naira (approximately $1,000) per subscriber, leaving it with a total bill of $5.2 billion, payable by 16 November.
The fine prompted the resignation of MTN group CEO Sifiso Dabengwa.
His interim replacement, executive chairman Phuthuma Nhleko, appears to have had some success in dealing with the situation in Nigeria.
Indeed, first the payment deadline was suspended to allow more time for negotiation. Now the fine has been reduced, and carries a new deadline of 31 December.
In a statement, MTN said it is carefully considering the NCC’s decision, adding that Nhleko "will immediately and urgently re-engage with the Nigerian authorities before responding formally."
The telco said "it is essential for the company to follow due process to ensure the best outcome."
In the meantime, MTN said in a separate announcement that it will reorganise its management structure in a bid to improve operational oversight, and hopefully avoid a repeat of what happened in Nigeria.
The operator will restructure into three regions – West and Central Africa (WECA), South and East Africa (SEA), and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – each one led by a vice president who reports directly to Nhleko.
MTN’s vice president of WECA has been named as Karl Toriola, who has been with the company for 10 ye ars, holding various job titles including CEO of MTN Cameroon. The VP of MENA will be Ismail Jaroudi, who has been CEO of MTN Syria since 2006.
MTN said a vice president for SEA will be announced soon.
MTN has also created a new role, group chief operating officer. The position will be held by Jyoti Desai, who has previously served as CIO of MTN Nigeria and COO of MTN Irancell.
Furthermore, MTN has appointed Matthew Odgers as group executive for M&A. Odgers joins from investment bank UBS, where he was head of TMT for Africa and the Middle East, and was the bank’s main point of contact for MTN.
The company is also still on the hunt for a permanent CEO to replace Dabengwa.
"This revised structure and strengthened leadership will improve operational oversight and increase management capacity. This will enable MTN to continue to realise its strategy and vision, while also ensuring we achieve high governance standards and robust risk mitigation," Nhleko said.
