The Group’s President, Ralph Mupita made this known on Friday courtesy visit to the presidential villa.
According to him, the company wants to have the largest retail-based shareholding in
Nigeria.
“We want to deepen our structure of ownership in Nigeria. We
will sell another 14% to Nigerian individuals and institutions. We want to have
the largest retail-based shareholding in Nigeria,” he said.
“We want at least 2 million Nigerian shareholders, deepening
our roots in Nigeria.”
Mupita added that MTN is a corporate citizen and therefore
is responsible in all the countries where it is represented.
“Our vision is to drive digital solutions for Africa’s
progress, and in MTN, we are building PAN-African leadership.”
Nigeria’s vice president, Yemi Osinbajo who received the
team at the Villa, charged the group and other corporate organisations
operating in Nigeria to be more accountable and people-centred in their
services and ownership structure.
The Senior Special Assistant
on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo in a statement said that corporate
organisations operating in Nigeria should ensure there is accountability in the
provision of services to customers and pay greater attention to the needs of
the people.
“Corporate organizations should be more accountable in their
services, in the ownership structure, and also in paying attention to the needs
of the people,” he said.
“Companies that ensure this will experience progress, as
this is the right direction to go. Going forward, most corporates will find
that attaching greater importance to the people is the way to go.”
Osinbajo said that for telecoms firms such as MTN,
“financial inclusion is crucial, so is broadband connection in deepening access
and will help to connect hard-to-reach places, and to retail social welfare and
services.”
While acknowledging bumps in the relationships between the
MTN brand and Nigeria, the Vice President applauded the company for its
contribution to the country, adding that the company “is clearly an important
part of Nigeria’s story.”
“The company’s investment was crucial when Nigeria needed to
show that not only is there a large population in the country, but that it is a
large market. The market was severely underestimated for a long time.
“So, MTN is an important part of our story, we regard MTN as
an important partner.”
Other members of the MTN Delegation at the Villa include the
Chairman, MTN Nigeria, Ernest Ndukwe; Group Chief Finance Officer, Tsholofelo
Molefe; MTN Nigeria CEO, Karl Toriola, and Chief Corporate Services Officer,
Tobechukwu Okigbo