MTN Group CEO, Ralph Mupita Hosts Nigeria Envoy To South Africa, Manta In Jo’burg

The President and CEO of MTN Group, Ralph Mupita and MTN Chief Group Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer, Felleng Sekha, on Thursday, October 21, 2021, met with Nigeria’s new High Commissioner to South Africa, Muhammad Haruna Manta, briefing the new envoy on plans by the telecom giant to accelerate rural coverage in Nigeria.

“During my last visit to Nigeria in June, 2021, I held meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari and other officials, including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo,  Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Professor Ali Issa Pantami, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Garba Danbatta and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele where I briefed them about plans to increase shareholding amongst Nigerian citizens and institutions,” Mupita told the High Commissioner during his visit to the MTN Group Headquarters in Johannesburg as part of his tour of institutions in the country.

MTN Group anticipates that the first part of that sell-down to Nigerians will be done before the end of 2021, with follow-on sell-down processes in 2022.

The High Commissioner commended MTN for the plans to accelerate rural coverage so as to ensure no Nigerian is left out of the digital economy as well as broadening of local ownership of MTN Nigeria.