A number of South African companies have said they will exit Nigeria, If MTN talks with the Nigerian Government fails.
The Nigeria telecom regulator imposed $3.9 billion fine on MTN for failing to disconnect unregistered sim cards.
The South African company has so far paid $250 million after dropping a legal case against the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
“MTN had withdrawn their case from the court and decided to go back and renegotiate the fine, which they consider very stiff, with NCC to find ways the fine can be reduced and given time to pay gradually,” Buhari told reporters in the capital, Abuja.
Naija247news recalled that earlier in the month South Africa’s Clover Industries said it will no longer invest in Nigeria due to a financial crisis there, the dairy products company said on Wednesday.
“The current financial crisis experienced in Nigeria which is fuelled by the low oil price is a further cause of concern, thus the group has decided to withdraw from future investments in Nigeria,” Clover said in a statement.
Companies have laid off thousands, cut production and even closed operations as they struggle to get enough dollars to pay for imported spare parts and raw materials. The Nigerian naira had devalued following a slump in oil revenues, the country’s lifeblood.
“It’s a sad decision but until the currency crisis is resolved we wont be able to invest in there any further,” Chief Executive Johann Vorster told Reuters.
Clover had planned to invest no less that 100 million rand ($6.43 million) in developing its products in Nigeria, he said.
Another South African retailer Truworths left Nigeria citing import restrictions.
According to chief executive Michael Mark told Reuters in telephone interview“ We were unable to operate the stores properly any longer because we were unable to send merchandise to the stores because there’s regulation preventing that,”
The company said it was even struggling to pay its rent and get access to foreign exchange which is scarce these days in Nigeria as a result of the slump in oil prices. Oil accounts for more than 90 percent of Nigeria’s forex earnings. The country’s currency has thus lost most of its value, exchanging for 380 naira to a dollar on Thursday, February 19, 2016 from 263 naira per dollar at the beginning of January.
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