There was one book we read in secondary school which was very interesting. It was called One Week One Trouble by Anezi Okoro. I think it was about a character named Wilson Tagbo who was always getting into trouble every week. If you replace Wilson Tagbo with MTN Nigeria and make that one week to become two years, you may be describing MTN Nigeria.

Yes, MTN Nigeria has another issue: now, it is coming from the Central Bank of Nigeria. The bank asked it yesterday to refund $8.13B (with B) which the apex bank said the mobile giant (allegedly) illegally repatriated. This is the CBN Letter to MTN (MTN-Letter-of-outcome-of-investigation)

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday wielded the big stick on mobile telecom firm, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, and four commercial banks for alleged financial infractions.

The CBN’s spokesperson, Isaac Okorafor, in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday said the apex bank wrote to MTN Nigeria demanding a refund of about $8.13 billion (about N2.5trillion at N306.15 to $) allegedly repatriated illegally out of Nigeria.

Mr Okorafor said the affected banks, including Standard Chartered Bank, Stanbic-IBTC, Citibank and Diamond Bank, would refund various amounts totaling N5.87 billion.

Standard Chartered was asked to refund N2.5 billion; Stanbic IBTC (N1.9 billion); Citibank (N1.3 billion and Diamond Bank (N250 million).

Now, it is safe to note that MTN Nigeria’s IPO is dead because no one will touch a brand that has a problem with the Central Bank of Nigeria. I expect MTN Nigeria to go to court but with four banks named who will also refund good money, it may not find redemption there.

MTN Nigeria has made money in Nigeria and I am sure it can pay this if the court adds it to its tab. I had calculated its total profit since founding in Nigeria to be about $28 billion as at last year. When CBN asks it to return $8B, it makes that $28B looks smaller.

Update: Someone shared this on LinkedIn as MTN response

We just finished a program agenda for an Innovation Workshop which we would run in Lagos in a client’s office. This workshop is relatively expensive for startups unless you have received good funding; it is designed for growing companies. I still have some available slots remaining for late September and early October.

Note: With Disruptive Africa, we have created an affordable version which you can register here. That offers a workshop, conference and award ceremony in one day. I will drive the workshop, speak in the conference and attend the award ceremony. If you can, make it on Sept 28th in Lagos.

(I blocked some contents to protect client privacy, etc).

Discovery Innovation Workshop: To innovate is to set a new basis of competition in an economy, business sector or market. Typically, it results to disruption. This workshop will focus on innovation and growth because growth is the reward of innovation. Otherwise, that innovation is actually an invention. I will be the lead instructor with my supporting crew. We can adapt this workshop to two days.

This is from the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, breaking down how much money Nigeria has made over the years from oil. He relied on OPEC data. Looking at the numbers,  Nigeria does not look like a poor country but a country that is poor on efficient management of resources.

• Babangida/ Abacha administrations (1990 – 1998), Nigeria realized $199.8 billion from oil
• Under the Obasanjo / Yar’Adua governments (1999 – 2009), $401.1 billion
• Jonathan administration (2010 – 2014), Nigeria got $381.9 billion dollars
• Buhari (second) government (2015-2017), 94 billion dollars

To give you a good comparison: the total value of the Nigerian Stock Exchange today is not up to $40 billion. But that is the exchange that powers our private sector. Technically, all our companies (the key ones are publicly traded) have not created enough value for what we make from oil in some good years.

Now, I understand better: If oil gives you $76 billion per year (using 2010-2014 numbers) and all the public companies (Nigeria Stock Exchange) are worth $40 billion, no one needs a seer to understand why successive governments have not bothered on how to deepen the competitiveness of the Nigerian private sector through provision of amenities like electricity, good roads, etc. That is unfortunate: this oil could be a curse indeed!

Good people, Nigeria is NOT a poor country; we are just poor in the right things.