Africa’s leading mobile telecommunications service provider, MTN Group has decided to pursue an out of court settlement for the $3.9 billion imposed on it by the telecoms industry regulator, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC).
NCC had initially, in October 2015, fined MTN the sum of $5.2 billion, representing N200,000 each for the 5.1 million lines it failed to deregister for failing to meet registration requirements.
This was subsequently reduced to $3.9 billion following series of negotiations between the company and Nigerian authorities.
MTN had sued the NCC, questioning the legality of the grounds for which the regulator said it imposed the fine.
After both parties agreed to settle out of court, the company has finally said it would pay $250 million as “good faith payment” in its effort to ensure an amicable resolution of the impasse, Vanguard reports.
A Lagos-based court had given both parties till March 18, 2016, to arrive at a settlement.
The shares of the company which had lost a third of its value since the announcement of the fine rose by 1.3 percent to 129.53 rand (8.34 dollars).
The circumstances surrounding the fine led to change of leadership at both MTN Nigeria and its Johannesburg, South Africa-based parent company.
Experts say the $250 million dollars agreement was a good sign that the fines could be further down-sized.
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