MTN issues frightened foreign investors — US, UK envoys

The envoys of the United Kingdom and United States of America in
Nigeria have said that the problems being faced by leading
telecommunications giant, MTN, have scared investors from both
countries from Nigeria, resulting in some of them pulling back and
others withdrawing fresh offers and taking them to neighbouring
countries.

The Central Bank of Nigeria had in August ordered MTN to refund
to the Federal Government the sum of $8,134,312,397.63 alleged to
have been illegally repatriated to South Africa.

The order came three years after the firm faced a
record-breaking $5.2bn fine for non-registration of
subscribers.

The two envoys spoke in Lagos on Thursday on the sideline of the
2018 International Investment Conference themed, ‘Promoting
Investment, Connecting Business’, organised by the Lagos Chamber of
Commerce and Industry as part of activities marking the 2018 Lagos
International Trade Fair.

The Consul General, US High Commission, Mr John Bray, said the
message the MTN experience sent was that people could make
investments in Nigeria only for the rules of the game to be changed
overnight.

“Apparently things are being resolved, but once you make an
announcement like that (order to repatriate the funds), there are
probably guys sitting back there and waiting to get on the plane
and fly back to the JFK and say, I am not investing again,” he
stated.

Bray said US business owners had continued to invest in Nigeria
with last year’s investment totalling $13.5bn, adding, “So, we just
want to get more investors here and part of that is improving the
regulatory environment, improving infrastructure and dampening
their fears about insecurity.”

On her part, the British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria,
Laure Beaufils, described the MTN saga as damaging, saying that
investors were always conscious of such signals.

She said, “Of course, investors are interested in regulations,
policies and strategies, but ultimately, they look at signals like
that and I think that was damaging. I think most people in Nigeria
recognise that that was very damaging.

“There is a lot that is being done to address that and we are
aware of that but sadly, investors also go beyond the headlines of
such stories and my key point today is that we have to avoid such
rash decisions at all cost in the interest of further investments
that are absolutely essential to the economic development of the
country, to job creation and to the vision that we all have of an
incredibly rich and vibrant Nigeria.”

Beaufils added that Nigeria was very important to the United
Kingdom from investment perspective, noting that the recent coming
of the British Prime Minister to Nigeria was a confirmation of that
fact.

She added, “Our team is increasing. When the PM was here; she
set up a new economic development forum with the President to
discuss how we can grow from strength to strength and further
increase our bilateral cooperation.

“She committed to the UK becoming the first G7 investor in
Africa by 2022. She also said that our development finance
institute, the CDC, will be investing a further £3.5bn in Africa in
the next few years, and a lot of that should come to Nigeria.

“There is huge amount of interest in Nigeria. We are already the
first investor in Nigeria and we want to continue to build on that;
but what we are saying is what investors are looking at is
predictability in decision making and application of regulations
and policies; and so, they are looking at ensuring that the rule of
law systematically applies and they are watching keenly to see what
happens in Nigeria going forward.”