MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (MTN Nigeria) held its Capital Markets Day at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja on November 14th and 15th, 2023. The ICT company also announced progress on achieving its ‘Ambition 2025’ Strategy, and the emerging opportunities in Nigeria’s digital economy to local and international investors.
The event was attended by local and international investors who had the opportunity to engage high-level representatives of the Nigerian government on the country’s macroeconomic reforms, as well as MTN Nigeria executives, who provided a comprehensive overview of the company’s progress against key “Ambition 2025” growth indicators.
Introducing MTN’s Nigeria’s presentations, the MTN CEO, Karl Toriola said: “I am encouraged and excited at the prospect of a liberal economic reform agenda for Nigeria that presents an opportunity to unleash its latent growth potential. The recognition that private sector investment will be critical to that is clear, and we are already seeing steps being taken to enable the business environment. We believe that Nigeria continues to present significant opportunities for us to deliver inclusive growth and expand access to connectivity while also supporting the drive for financial inclusion.”
In his remarks, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr ‘Bosun Tijani, said “If we are to talk about capital markets and the role of capital markets in nation building, I don’t think there is any other company that you can use as an example of how to develop a society that is much more than MTN. Not only is this (telecom) sector now responsible for driving significant progress and productivity in our economy, but for those who are following, we contributed over 18% of the GDP of our nation last quarter, which is quite significant for just one sector. …The case I’m making is that the best way for policies to work is for the private sector and investors to be willing to build with the government. For the private sector and investors to understand that whilst the government may be interested in opening up, the government will never learn if you don’t come and be part of building that economy.”
Commenting on MTN Nigeria’s approach to the Capital Markets Day, Ralph Mupita, the President and CEO, MTN Group said: “We felt it’s important we tell our story to the providers of capital in the way we know best and wherever we find ourselves, we will tell the story. One of the objectives is to expose the investors to the authorities, in particular around how the structural reforms will be made and the impact on investment. We are confident that the current administration is on the right path and will continue to advance the enabling environment for private sector growth in Nigeria.”
The Capital Markets Day also included a visit to the Wuse Market in Abuja, and a gala night, to serenade the investors with music from top Nigerian artistes including Cobhams Asuquo and Made Kuti.
