Opinion
Nigeria: Huge MTN fine shows Buhari administration will not tolerate disregard of law by big business
By Jenerali Ulimwengu
The recent tug of war between the Nigerian government and Africa’s biggest telecommunications company – MTN, comes as an instructive development for the whole continent.
When the Nigerian communications regulator – the Nigerian Communications Commission slapped a hefty fine on the giant mobile telephone carrier, there were people who thought that the new Buhari administration had gone over the top.
It needs no telling that Muhammadu Buhari, a retired general who had previously governed as military head of state in the 1980s, wanted to confirm his reputation as a no-nonsense man of action and whose administration who would not brook any sign of disrespect and disregard of the law from the big money movers in his resource-rich country.
So, when MTN failed to do as it was told – that is, to register all the phone lines it sold in Nigeria – it found itself with a US$5.5 billion tab to clear.
To put this fine in perspective, it was variously reported that it was the equivalent of double the South African-based company’s annual profits for 2014. That would truly be hard on any company, and MTN winced.
Nefarious Schemes
But let us interrogate that argument a little. The requirement that cellphone companies register the details of individuals they sell SIM cards to has been adopted by most countries, largely as a security measure against the malicious use of these telephones by crooks and criminals.
Nigeria, like so many other African countries, has its own share of these types, and the harm they can cause to our countries cannot be overemphasized. It is even safe to say that Nigeria could be considered one of the countries on the continent most adversely affected by nefarious schemes and scams hatched by some of the smartest malefactors in the world.
The Thugs
But there is much worse than that, as we all know. In the wake of the devastation wreaked by the thugs of Boko Haram on the peoples of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, it is fair to say that that whole region is at war with some of the most intractable foes on the continent. The suicide bombings, the kidnappings, the rapes and arson do not show signs of abating any time soon.
So, for anyone, any company doing business in that region, issues of security and public safety should have paramount importance, one would have thought. It is almost inconceivable that any company operating in the area, would ignore these grim realities.
It is not clear what made MTN fail to comply with the registration requirement, seeing that the same condition applies in its home country, South Africa.
Idle Speculation
In my view, it was proper to fine the company for that dangerous transgression. It may seem like idle speculation, but who knows how many people lost their lives to Boko Haram attacks facilitated by untraceable SIM cards sold by the company?
How much property was destroyed, and how much psychological trauma caused?
MTN can consider itself fortunate that the fine may be revised downwards – the Nigerian Communications Commission having reduced it by a third, after some protracted negotiations.
It says something about the mellowing of Buhari – that his administration could listen to the pleadings of the firm and grant them at least a partial reprieve.
Still, the fine remains big enough to make other companies think twice before they ignore the security concerns and regulations of their hosts.
But there is much more that the cell phone companies operating in Africa could do, apart from paying unfailing attention to issues of security and public safety. Hardly 20 years ago, much of Africa could not tell a cell phone from a packet of cigarettes. But now almost every African man and woman above the age of 15 has a cell phone. Many have two or three.
Many of those who own these devices have contracted an acute form of “telephonitis” – a rare disease whose patients just cannot leave their phones alone.
The extraordinary frequency of the use of these phones must mean the phone companies have more than recouped their investment and made loads of money besides.
They should now cut their calling rates to give their users a reprieve. Is that too much to ask?
Jenerali Ulimwengu is a Tanzanian lawyer, journalist and on the executive of the Raia Mwema newspaper. He is based in Dar-es-Salaam. The original version of this article was published in the Africa Review.