Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, has stated that the telecom company is “a Nigerian company through and through,” emphasising that it belongs as much to Nigerians as to its global investors, with over 11 million Nigerians holding indirect stakes through pension funds.

Toriola also defended the Federal Government’s approval of telecom tariff adjustments, noting that the move helped prevent a financial crisis in the sector and enabled the company to ramp up capital expenditure to about N1 trillion in 2025 to improve network quality.

Speaking during an interview on Arise News, the MTN boss dismissed claims that the company is solely South African, despite its origins.

According to him, MTN Nigeria is incorporated locally, listed on the Nigerian Exchange, pays taxes in Nigeria, and is largely managed by Nigerians.

“We are labelled as a South African company because MTN Group was founded in South Africa. But the reality is that MTN Group has a very diverse global shareholding. Only about 50 percent of the shareholding is African, while the rest is held by investors from North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific,” he said.

Speaking further on MTN Nigeria’s identity, Toriola stressed the company’s deep roots in the Nigerian economy.

“MTN Nigeria is a Nigerian company through and through. We are domiciled in Nigeria. We are listed on the Nigerian Exchange. We pay all the taxes, duties and levies expected of us, and we are run by Nigerians.

Demographics

“I am Nigerian. Apart from one executive, every member of our executive committee is Nigerian, while our entire expatriate workforce in Nigeria is just four people.

“We have over 201,000 retail investors, while about 11 million Nigerians own MTN shares indirectly through pension funds. We are very proud of our Nigerian identity,” he stated.

On the recent telecom tariff adjustment, Toriola said the increase was driven by necessity rather than profit motives, noting that operators were struggling to meet basic financial obligations before the review.

“People perceived the tariff increase as an aspiration for profitability, but the reality was that we were on our knees financially. We couldn’t even pay our month-to-month bills with the revenues we were generating. The tariff adjustment was an absolute necessity. It enabled us to stay alive,” he said.

He added that the improved revenue base has enabled MTN to scale up infrastructure investments to enhance service delivery.

“In the first quarter of this year alone, we spent N390 billion on capital expenditure, compared with a profit after tax of N359 billion. That shows our commitment to improving quality of service,” he said.

Addressing concerns over poor network quality, Toriola attributed the challenges to increasing demand, infrastructure gaps, vandalism, insecurity, and unreliable power supply.

“There are people who deliberately pour petrol into our manholes and set them on fire. A single incident can knock out services for millions of subscribers. We also face security challenges that prevent our engineers from quickly accessing some sites.

“In addition, we operate about 18,000 sites nationwide, each requiring generators, batteries, rectifiers and constant fuelling because of inadequate public electricity supply. All these affect quality of service,” he explained.

While acknowledging that service quality still needs improvement, he assured customers of continued investment.

“We are not perfect, but we are investing aggressively and continuously striving to do better,” he added.

On allegations that telecom operators deliberately deplete customers’ data, Toriola said findings often point to background data usage by smartphone applications.

“There is a perception that MTN goes and takes customers’ data, but our studies have shown repeatedly that background applications are consuming much of that data.

“I encourage customers to check their device settings. Daily automatic backups are unnecessary for many users. If possible, carry out backups over Wi-Fi instead of mobile data,” he advised. (The Nation)