MTN Nigeria Set for Second Public Sale

MTN Group President, Ralph Mupita, has announced plans to reduce the company’s shareholding in MTN Nigeria through a public offer, following its return to profitability.

The move aims to cut MTN Group’s stake from 76% to 65%, in line with its commitment to deepen local ownership.

According to a report by ITWeb, a South African tech publication, Mupita disclosed the plan during an editors’ roundtable meeting, stating, “The only localisation we have as MTN Group is we have potentially a sell-down in Nigeria at some point in time, approximately 11 percent. This is something we have said long ago, that over time, we would want more Nigerians owning the company, and we are prepared to sell down to 65 percent. We are at around 76 percent.”

This will be MTN’s second major retail public offering in Nigeria, following its 2021 sale of 575 million MTN Nigeria shares to local investors. The offer was oversubscribed, resulting in the allocation of 661.25 million shares, including a 15% greenshoe option. This reduced MTN’s stake in its Nigerian unit to 75.6% from 78.8%.

Mupita confirmed that the Group would only proceed with a new offer once MTN Nigeria resolves its negative equity position and resumes dividend payments. Currently, MTN Nigeria’s shares are trading at N235 per share.

More than 126,000 investors participated in that round, including retail and institutional investors such as Nigerian pension funds, representing approximately 6.5 million contributors. At the time in 2022, MTN Group announced plans to further reduce its stake to approximately 65 percent from 75.6 percent.

Despite reporting a revenue of N3.36 trillion in 2024, a 36.03% increase from N2.47 trillion in 2023, MTN Nigeria posted a loss after tax of N400.44 billion, a 192.25% rise from N137.02 billion in 2023. This negative performance was driven by macroeconomic headwinds, including record inflation and a steep devaluation of the naira, which raised operating costs and wiped out investor value.

However, the Group is projecting a rebound in 2025, citing key drivers such as recent tariff adjustments, operational restructuring, and improving macroeconomic indicators in Nigeria. Mupita highlighted that the Group is anticipating a V-shaped recovery in Nigeria’s service revenue, pointing to recent structural reforms, such as the removal of fuel subsidies, the naira stabilisation, and improved dollar availability.

“The continued normalisation of these factors, particularly naira stability, should have positive impacts on consumer spending power and our business operations,” Mupita noted in the Group’s financial statement for 2024, as reported by Punch Newspaper.

The anticipated offer is expected to mark a significant milestone in MTN’s journey to deepen local ownership and return to profitability in Nigeria. With a projected rebound in 2025, MTN is poised to regain its position as a leading player in the Nigerian telecommunications industry.