MTN Must Complete NSE Listing by May 2019 – Danbatta

Telecommunication giant, MTN Nigeria, has been given a timeline, by the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, to have list its shares listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), on or before May 2019, as contained in the agreement over the 2015 fine settlement between the regular and the telecom company.

Danbatta while speaking on various issues surrounding telecommunications in Abuja, also noted that the five infrastructure companies (Infracos) which hold licenses to drive the broadband penetration across Nigeria will enjoy N23 billion subsidy as soon as they start rollout. He further assured that the subsidy will help deepen Nigeria’s broadband penetration.

He said NCC was working with the office of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on the laying of 18,000km fibre infrastructure to connect the entire country.

“The National Economic Council (NEC) has already agreed to the N145 per metre to be charged by states on Right of Way.”

Answering questions on why the takeover of 9mobile is taking time, Prof. Danbatta said NCC was conducting a thorough due diligence on the preferred bidder, Teleology Limited.

The long-awaited and highly speculated IPO

In the meantime, MTN has revealed that it has made some progress on its planned listing on the NSE. According to the President MTN Group, Rob Shutter, MTN will list on the Nigerian bourse before the end of this year.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently denied receiving any application from MTN Nigeria Limited regarding its proposed Initial Public Offering (IPO) this has raised concerns on the preparedness of the company for the much-awaited listing.

Talks about the IPO have dominated business reports throughout the year, with rife speculations about the actual details/entailment.

An earlier report had it that the MTN shares’ listing would happen in June 2018. There have also been conflicting reports about the exact amount the company wants to raise through the IPO, including a report that it was hoping to raise about ₦100 billion. Last month, an MTN spokesperson debunked rumours that MTN had ever hinted at issuing as much as $500 million-valued shares during the IPO.