MTN has continued with its burgeoning revenue trajectory despite the pandemic and regulatory pitfalls that are smiting its growth potential.

The South African telecom giant, on Saturday declared revenue of N790.3 billion, representing an increase of 24.1 per cent in its unedited half year results for the period that ended on June 30, 2021.

According to the report, the telco’s Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA), grew by 27.6 percent to reach N417.2 billion. The EBITDA margin improved by 1.4 percentage points to 52.7 percent and its Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) rose by 39.1 percent to hit N186.4 billion. Its dividend per share was up about 30%, to N4.55 kobo.

However, the impact of the ongoing NIN registration was noticed in the teleco’s, loss of mobile subscribers and mobile internet users.

According to the report, mobile subscribers declined by 7.6 million to 68.9 million, due to regulatory restrictions on new SIM sales and activations. Active data users also declined by approximately 52,000 to 32.5 million.

MTN Nigeria CEO, Mr. Karl Toriola said although the regulatory restrictions impacted growth, the company used new and high quality service to offset the deficit.

“Service revenue grew by 24.1 per cent, Year-on-Year (YoY), driven by the sustained growth in data and also partly due to the lower base in comparative 2020 voice revenue that resulted from lockdowns during that period.

“Voice revenue grew by 13.1 per cent, benefitting from an 11.8 per cent increase in traffic and our customer value management (CVM) initiatives. The impact on voice revenue from the industry-wide suspension of new SIM registration was partly offset by higher usage in our active SIM base as well as migration to a higher quality of experience,” he explained, adding that data revenue continued the positive momentum from H2 2020, rising by 48.3 per cent.

He said this was driven by increased usage from the existing base, supported by the acceleration in our 4G rollout and enhanced network capacity following the acquisition and activation of additional 800MHz spectrum in Q1.

The results showed that data traffic rose by 83.0 per cent YoY, while smartphone penetration was up by 5.8pp to 49.3 per cent.

“Our 4G network now covers 65.1 per cent of the population, up from 60.1 per cent in December 2020,” he added.

According to him, Fintech revenue rose by 48.2 per cent driven by increased adoption of Xtratime and the core fintech services.

“We continue to expand our MoMo agent network and broaden our service offerings. Our registered MoMo agents increased by 121,000 in H1 2021 to more than 515,000,” he said.

Commenting further on the results, Toriola said: “In the first half of 2021, we made good progress strengthening the resilience of the business, managing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and enhancing support to our people, customers and other stakeholders.

“Our progress towards achieving greater business resilience is reflected in the upgrade by Global Credit Ratings (GCR) of our national scale long-term issuer rating to AAA and affirmation of our national scale short-term rating of A1+ with a stable outlook. This puts MTN Nigeria on the highest possible GCR scale for short-term and long-term ratings, providing a solid platform for growth.”

Toriola said MTN would use the opportunity of its 20th anniversary in Nigeria to expand in many areas, including CSR initiatives and widening its network coverage to more rural areas.

“As we celebrate this milestone, we are pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has approved our participation in the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit (RITC) Scheme. This is in response to the government’s drive towards public-private partnerships in the rehabilitation of critical road infrastructure in Nigeria. We intend to participate in the restoration and refurbishment of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway. Conversations in this regard have already commenced, and further announcements will be made in due course.

“In line with our desire to plant deeper and more permanent roots in Nigeria, we have also initiated plans to commission a purpose-built, state of the art MTN Head Office, designed to act as a central hub for our network, a catalyst for creativity and innovation, and a showcase for the flexible working structures that are driving efficiency gains in this new normal working environment.

“Aligned with our wider commitment to environmental sustainability, it will meet the highest global environmental standards, demonstrating the role of green technology in our future,” he said.

Toriola promised that MTN would continue to invest in improved world class services and its network, accelerating the expansion of its 4G coverage and providing home broadband.

“As part of our rural connectivity programme, we plan to connect approximately 1,000 rural communities to our network this year with an additional 2,000 communities in 2022. We are delighted that these are translating into strong operational performance in line with the objectives of Ambition 2025. In the next three years, we will invest over N600 billion to expand broadband access across the country in support of the government’s broadband plan,” he said.

In furtherance to its directive to commercial banks to sell forex to customers, the Central Bank of Nigeria has asked the banks to create mobile applications and alert systems to update customers of their foreign exchange movement.

This directive came after the CBN’s decision to stop sales of forex to Bureau de Change operators and the directive to deposit money banks to establish teller points to fulfill legitimate forex requests from customers.

The new directive was revealed in a circular signed by the Director, Banking Supervision Department, Haruna Mustafa, which was issued on Wednesday with the reference number: BSD/DIR/PUB/LAB/14/082.

The circular reads: “Further to the Monetary Policy Committees (MPC briefing of July 27 2021 of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs are hereby reminded to set up teller points at designated branches across the country to fulfil legitimate FX requests for Personal Travel Allowance (PTA Business Travel Allowance (BTA), tuition fees, Medical payments, SMEs transactions, amongst others.

“In this regard DMBs are also required to adequately publicize the locations of the designated branches and make necessary arrangements to sell FX to customers in cash and or electronically in compliance with extant regulations.”

Banks were also advised to ensure that no customer is turned back or refused forex provided that documentation and all other requirements are satisfied equally.

“Undue delays rationing and/or diversion of FX is strongly discouraged whilst DMBS are required to establish electronic applications and alert systems to update customers on status of their FX requests

“As communicated during the briefing, toll-free lines have been set up at the CBN for bank customers to escalate unresolved complaints related to their FX requests,” the statement read.

The apex bank restated that it would continue to closely monitor banks conduct and compliance with the directive, adding that any breach of the directive would be severely sanctioned

The CBN had on Tuesday announced that it would no longer sell forex to bureau de change operators due to price manipulation and corruption. It asked Nigerians who want to buy forex to go to banks.

Although the new policy caused the naira to fall farther against dollar, it has been hailed by many as the right step to rescue the Nigerian currency, which has been on free fall since 2015.

Prof. Uche Uwaleke of Finance and Capital Market said the decision is in the best interest of the country, though it has demerits.

“It is consistent with the move by the CBN to unify exchange rates and bring more transparency to the forex market. Exchange rate unification is in line with the IMF and World Bank’s recommendations and so improves the country’s profile and credit standing before international financial institutions,” he said.

The CBN said the BDCs were flouting the regulation that allowed them to sell a maximum of 5,000 dollars, selling millions of dollars per day. The apex bank noted that the bureau de change operators were also aiding money laundering and other financial crimes.

However, many believe that the new policy will only aggravate the already bad situation of naira, since it will take a long time to be stabilized because there are a few banks compared to the large number of BDCs. Besides this concern, experts say the apex bank needs to ensure that all bank branches comply with the directive to make it work.

Apart from the directive to banks to develop forex apps, the CBN also provided contact details where customers seeking forex could report any bank going against the rules.

“Once a customer presents all required documentation to purchase forex, the commercial banks should ensure they get the forex. Any customer that is denied should contact the CBN on 0700385526 or through the email- cbd@cbn.gov.ng,” the CBN said.

Amazon has been caught on the European Union’s antitrust web amid intensified regulatory moves by the bloc to curtail the excesses of tech giants, especially the misuse of people’s private information.

The e-commerce giant faces a record-breaking €746 million (roughly $887 million) fine after a European Union data privacy regulator said it had violated the bloc’s signature privacy law, known as GDPR, in an advertising-related decision, CNN Business reports.

The fine was imposed on July 16 and disclosed Friday in a financial filing. It is the largest in the law’s three-year history, followed by Google’s 2019 fine of €50 million.

Regulators said Amazon’s processing of personal data didn’t comply with GDPR requirements, and the company acknowledged it has been ordered to change its business practices.

Amazon said the regulatory decision was “without merit” and added that it plans to “defend ourselves vigorously in this matter.”

“The decision relating to how we show customers relevant advertising relies on subjective and untested interpretations of European privacy law, and the proposed fine is entirely out of proportion with even that interpretation,” the company said.

The penalty for the alleged violation was imposed by data regulators in Luxembourg, where Amazon has its European headquarters. A spokesperson for the Luxembourg data authority, CNPD, declined to comment, citing the ongoing nature of the legal proceeding.

The fine marks the latest example of European regulators zeroing in on Big Tech. Officials in Europe and the UK have increasingly been scrutinizing the business practices of companies including Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google amid allegations they have harmed competition and abused consumer privacy. GDPR, or the General Data Protection Regulation, seeks to rein in how digital platforms use consumer data and to regulate data breaches.

In a further statement to CNN Business, Amazon said customer information had not been leaked or exposed.

“Maintaining the security of our customers’ information and their trust are top priorities,” the statement said. “There has been no data breach, and no customer data has been exposed to any third party. These facts are undisputed.”

Under the EU’s privacy law, violations can carry penalties of up to €20 million or 4% of a company’s global revenue, whichever is higher. The EU in recent times, has added amendments to its existing antitrust laws to deal with accelerating complaints of misuse of private data, anti-competition and monopolistic practices by tech companies.

Google, Apple and Facebook were regulars in the controversy, and have been occasionally fined by the watchdogs. The €746 million Amazon’s fine shows the GDPR’s determination to escalate its regulatory responsibility and make a deterrent statement.