THE MTN Group is reeling under two significant headwinds at two of its biggest markets with a potential to erode service quality in its operations.
has been hit by a double whammy that has the potential to negatively affect
In Nigeria chronic fuel shortages brought telecoms firms, banks and flights to a standstill on Monday with MTN warning that this may lead to a network shutdown, while in SA a strike by employees over wages and bonuses has entered its second week and threatens service disruptions.
Nigeria is MTN’s biggest market with 61-million subscribers. It generates almost a third of its revenues there.
MTN Nigeria’s spokeswoman Funmilayo Onajide on Monday said services were “already degraded and some of our customers are already feeling the impact”.
Nigeria depends on fuel imports to meet more than 70% of its domestic needs and pays importers to guarantee cheaper local prices.
According to Bloomberg, major fuel-marketing companies claim they are owed 200-billion naira in outstanding payments by the outgoing government of President Goodluck Jonathan.
MTN spokesman Chris Maroleng said the group was monitoring the situation and would “implement all necessary contingency to avoid any possible negative impact”.
