MTN Group Ltd. CEO Ralph Mupita expects that Nigeria will recover from the temporary shocks posed by President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms by mid-next year.
Mr. Ralph Mupita, acknowledged the essential nature of structural reforms for the country’s progress but noted the current discomfort experienced by companies operating in Nigeria.
He stated this during an interview aired on Bloomberg Television on Thursday.
- He said, “With the removal of the subsidy and liberalization of the naira, we always knew it was going to take us a couple of quarters for those shocks to work through the system,”
- “And beyond that — we see our business being able to pick up growth and repair the profit and earnings profile of the group.”
In its latest financial result reported by Nairametrics, MTN Nigeria recorded a year-on-year decline of 75.7% in its profit before tax to N32.08 billion in Q3 2023, as compared to N132.04 billion in Q3 2022.
Policy reforms are good for business
MTN stated it’s being “very constructive” on Nigeria in the medium-to-long term, affirming that the policy reforms underpin the investment case for the company in the country.
Nigeria, MTN’s largest market by subscribers, sees the Lagos-listed unit contributing more than a third of the group’s total revenue.
- Its CEO said, “Nigeria drives growth in digital adoption and financial inclusion. MTN has Nigeria as a big growth vector for the company,”
What you should know
President Bola Tinubu during his inauguration announced the removal of fuel subsidy and in June, the CBN announced radical reforms to the foreign exchange market which saw the naira weaken by almost 100% on the parallel market.
Also, the current administration has been struggling to increase liquidity in foreign exchange with many companies complaining of inability to repatriate forex brought into the country.
The CBN Governor during his screening by the senate said the priority of the new apex bank’s management is clearing the backlog of forex demand which he puts around $7 billion.
Also, Minister of Finance Wale Edun has also hinted a foreign exchange inflow of around $10 billion in a matter of weeks.