MTN Nigeria Fine Increased To $3.9 Billion After Regulator Error

MTN Group Ltd. had its record fine in Nigeria
increased $500 million to $3.9 billion after the
country’s telecommunications regulator said it
wrote the incorrect penalty in an earlier letter
to Africa’s largest phone company.
“There was a typo,” Nigerian Communication
Commission spokesman Tony Ojobo said by
phone on Friday, referring to a letter dated Dec.
2 that reduced the original $5.2 billion penalty to
$3.4 billion. “The reduction should have been 25
percent. We saw the mistake and had to fix it.”
MTN spokesman Chris Maroleng declined to
comment. The shares traded 4.7 percent lower at
133.40 rand as of 10:39 a.m. in Johannesburg,
the lowest since Nov. 17.
MTN received a second letter on Thursday which
superseded the first letter and increased the fine
to $3.9 billion, the Johannesburg-based company
said in a statement on Friday. The payment date
is Dec. 31.