Godfrey Maduka
When the announcement of MTN Nigeria’s first-ever public offer was made in December 2021, what followed, especially among young Nigerians, was a series of financial opinions, predictions and questions. While a bulk of the conversations stemmed from the popularity of the company among Nigerians, being the telecommunications company with the most subscribers in the country, and the prospects of moving from just subscriber to shareholder, more interesting conversations came as a result of some of the innovative steps the company had taken to educate the public and increase access to as many people as possible.
One of such innovative steps taken by MTN Nigeria was the introduction of the PrimaryOffer app, through which most of the millennials and GenZs who are today MTN shareholders got in on their own piece of the pie. This app made the process of buying MTN’s shares easier, with the addition of numerous educational explainer videos making things much more seamless. Not only were people buying shares, some were learning for the first time, stock trading terminologies such as CSCS accounts; 114,938 of which were opened as a result of the public offering from MTN.
With innovation, people have come to often expect disruption, a move-away from the norms, and sometimes, a little rebellion. There are people today who believe that to birth new things, you have to break old rules. But in December 2022, a year after listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, MTN Nigeria emerged the Most Compliant Listed Company at the NGX Made of Africa Awards (MOA), and proved that innovation doesn’t equate breaking the rules or being shifty on standards.
Over the last two decades, MTN Nigeria has maintained a world-class business outlook that has effectively combined efficient service delivery with a human development mindset which has endeared it to its over 80 million subscribers, and many more non-subscribers. This love was clearly reflected in the fact that its initial offer of 575 million share units was exceeded by 139.47%, leading to an oversubscription and 661.25 million units of shares being allotted to 126,720 retail investors and some institutional investors.
By April 2022, four months after this public offer, shareholders benefited from a “whopping” N174.53 billion dividend which represented the company’s approved N8.57 per two kobo ordinary shares, a massive sign that the new investors made a good choice. Since then, despite market fluctuations and different economic events, faith in stocks such as MTN Nigeria’s, ensured that investors in the Nigerian Stock Market ended 2022 with a N1.034 trillion gain, and it is not surprising why such belief is being easily repaid.
To celebrate 21 years of excellent service delivery, MTN Nigeria in the first quarter of 2022 unveiled a brand refresh and a renewed commitment to lead digital solutions for Africa’s progress and accelerate long-term business growth in Nigeria, under its Ambition 2025 strategy. Months after this, it unveiled its 5G Network offering, which became a validation of this commitment and an instant boost to business owners and individual subscribers.
The launch of its 5G Network routers meant that businesses who depend on fast internet to deliver value to their customers were being presented with a solid option to solve the data challenges that Nigerians complain about, thus boosting MTN’s brand equity and reaffirming its place as the trusted network provider in the country.
True to form, MTN Nigeria didn’t stop at doing things that make business operations easier, but kept to its promise of making life better as well. For a long time, the company has contributed to youth development in a way that very few organisations have, by recognising different ways to support the many talents that exist within Nigeria.
In the entertainment space, it launched a few new shows including the Nigerian adaptation of the popular ‘Family Feud’ show, and a spotlight show on Nigeria’s female football team, the Super Falcons. While the MTN Foundation science and technology undergraduate scholarships have continued to support brilliant students through their university studies, more youths have also benefited from its ICT and Business Skills training.There’s also the MTNF Y’elloPrenuer Entrepreneurial Skills Training Programme for women, as well as the recently-launched ‘MTN Career Series.’
These various initiatives represent a small part of the growth process that MTN Nigeria has been on in order to deliver value to its users and in turn repay the faith of its investors. For the company’s CEO, Karl Olutokun Toriola, the saying not how far, but how well, is not just a saying but words to live by. In his reaction to the NGX Award, he made sure to point out that his team’s hard work and achievements were better validated by earning them the right way and within the regulations that govern the securities market, as “compliance is at the heart of the business and embedded in the strategic priorities that underpin the Ambition 2025 strategy,” he said.
Given that compliance within the investment market is often an issue that relates to corporate governance, timely reporting and information sharing with investors, as well as adherence to rules to mitigate risks, MTN Nigeria’s award is at best, a show of commitment to serving its investors well.
Before the NGX Award in the last quarter of 2022, MTN Nigeria had already received compliance recognition in March 2022 from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria’s chief tax collection agency. Judging by the words of Chief Financial Officer, MTN Nigeria, Modupe Kadri, who says that the company has been very deliberate in the way it approached compliance, to ensure it benefits from the function of the rules to help the market operate creditably and transparently; the company’s investors will be right to believe that this culture of doing business the right way will remain even as the team’s innovative spirit soars.
Godfrey Maduka is a financial analyst based in Lagos
