MTN Nigeria rises 10% after $2 billion tax case withdrawn

LAGOS: MTN Nigeria shares rose 10% on Monday to their highest in two weeks after the country’s attorney general withdrew a $2 billion tax demand against the South African telecoms firm.

The company and attorney general both said on Friday that Nigeria’s attorney general had withdrawn the tax case.

Shares in MTN, Nigeria’s second biggest listed firm, rose to 127.60 naira each, helping lift the broader market index by 1.6%.

Nigeria is MTN’s biggest market, with 58 million users in 2018 and it accounts for a third of the South African group’s core profit.

The tax case had cast a cloud over the telecoms firm as investors feared that the demand by the West African nation could affect MTN’s value.