MTN Group has agreed to pay a reduced fine of 330 billion naira ($1.67 billion) in a settlement with the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), it said on Friday, sending shares in the South African telecoms provider soaring.
The fine will be paid over three years and is smaller than the $5.2 billion sought by NCC last October for failing to deactivate more than five million unregistered SIM cards on its network, Reuters reported. Shares in MTN surged 18 percent to 146 rand after the announcement in their biggest jump since April 2000. They have shed 22 percent since the fine was announced.
MTN, Africa’s largest telecoms company, has already paid 50 billion of the 330 billion naira owed. The rest will be paid in six installments over three years, the company said in a statement.
