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MTN is expected to lose another top executive in the coming months, sources close to the case say, as the largest mobile operator in Africa is fighting more than $ 10 billion in claims on its largest market in Nigeria.
The director of innovation, Herman Singh, is expected to leave soon and will start his own technology company, said the population, who asked not to be identified because the information was not made public. The exit will come as technology chief Babak Fouladi prepares to join the Dutch telecommunications company KPN NV in a similar role next week.
MTN confirmed the departure of Fouladi announced by KPN in Rotterdam earlier this month. Singh refused to comment.
The leaders leave after a period of three years of considerable turbulence at MTN. A shocking $ 5.2 billion in Nigeria in 2015 tainted MTN in 10 months of negotiations and prompted a redesign of management. Earlier this year, authorities in this West African country announced a new round of multibillion dollar claims.
The stock was halved over the period, valuing the carrier at 169 billion rand ($ 12.2 billion). It is even then that the demand for data services in Africa is increasing and that MTN is growing in fast-growing services such as mobile money. The company has agreed to a partnership with Orange SA last week to facilitate payments on the continent.
Shares fell 2% Tuesday to 87.97 rand at 12:10 in Johannesburg.
The team dissolves
MTN chief executive Rob Shuter hired Fouladi two years ago at Vodafone Group in Spain to form a new team following Nigeria's first sanction, which was eventually reduced to around $ 1 billion. dollars. Singh, formerly with Vodacom, his MTN rival, was named in 2015.
Stephen Van Coller also left MTN at the end of August to take over the management of the EOH technology company. Originally hired as Mergers & Acquisitions Manager, the former bank manager was responsible for managing digital services before leaving his position after less than two years.
The latest conflict between MTN and the Nigerian authorities concerns an allegation that the company illegally transferred $ 8.1 billion out of the country and will owe $ 2 billion in back taxes. Although the transaction seems almost closed, while the governor of the central bank Godwin Emefiele said he was "about to announce" a friendly resolution, the tax claim has still not been settled.
MTN also has problems with liquidity extraction from Iran, its third market after the reinstatement of sanctions by US President Donald Trump. The carrier has also been pressured to register national units on local exchanges, with Uganda being the last to link a stock sale to license renewals.
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