08 November 2019

MTN Nigeria’s share price hit a three-month high on 6th September after the telecoms firm’s company offices partially reopened following a shutdown due to anti-South African attacks in the west African country.

Shares in MTN, Nigeria’s second-biggest listed firm, rose 5.03% to NGN139.80 each, a level last seen in June.

The local units of South Africa’s MTN Group closed all stores and service centres in Nigeria after their premises were attacked following days of riots in their home country chiefly targeting foreign-owned, including Nigerian, businesses.

The violence in South Africa has strained relations between Africa’s two biggest economies, with Nigeria saying it would recall its top diplomat to Pretoria.

An MTN Nigeria spokesman said its stores remained closed as Northern African Wireless Communications went to press, but skeletal office operations were resuming while staff were asked to stay at home for safety reasons.

Prior to the shutdown, the telecom firm launched a mobile money transfer service, targeting Nigerians without bank accounts and said it planned to become a payment services bank once it obtains the necessary approval from the central bank.