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L-R Mr. Segun Agbaje, GMD, GTBank, Dr. Pascal Dozie,
Chairman, MTN,
Mr. Brett Goschen, CEO, MTN Nigeria and Mr. Reginald
Ihejiahi, MD/CEO,
Fidelity bank at the formal signing ceremony of a N470
billion medium term loan
facility to MTN in Lagos, Tuesday by a consortium of
24 local and international banks.
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Confirming
this to DigitalSENSE Business News, Tuesday in Lagos, chief executive officer, MTN
Nigeria, Mr. Brett Goschen, said the loan consists of US$1.8 billion in
additional facilities and US$ 1.2 billion in restructured existing local facility.
Speaking
after the deal was formally sealed by top officials and board members of the
company and the participating banks, Mr. Goschen said the signing of the loan deal
signals another strategic collaboration between MTN Nigeria and local and
international financial institutions, aimed at deepening telecommunications
services in Nigeria.
The
deal, he said, is the sixth of such strategic partnerships, with other notable
ones including a facility of US$170 million Commercial Paper Facility secured
by the company in 2002 and $395 million Medium Term Facility in 2003.
Additionally,
he said the 2003 deal was the largest African telecoms funding deal to close
outside of South Africa at the time and won Project
Finance magazine’s “African Telecoms Deal” for that year.
“In 2007, MTN Nigeria again partnered with various local and
international financial institutions to raise USD 2 billion to fund our rapidly
expanding operations. It was again regarded as the largest loan syndication to
any individual telecommunications company in Africa. In that year, it won the ‘African
Deal of the Year’ by the EuroMoney Magazine,” he said.
Further,
Goschen recalled that in 2010, MTN Nigeria partnered with 15 local financial
institutions and two international lenders to raise another USD 2 billion,
which was described as the largest corporate financing deal in the whole of
sub-Saharan Africa.
Stressing
that this deal was awarded the “Trade Finance Deal of the Year 2010” by the
Trade Finance Magazine of the United Kingdom.
The
essence of these deals, he highlighted was to enable MTN to make the necessary
capital investments to expand network infrastructure and meet the growing
demands of customer base.
“We
certainly put that financing to good use, built the most extensive
telecommunications network in Africa and grew our customer base to over 50
million subscribers,” he said.
MTN,
he pointed out, currently has effective network
coverage of more than 85 per cent of Nigeria’s land mass and population, and nearly
100 percent coverage of most major highways in the country.
Mr. Goschen said with a relatively low
mobile penetration, sound economic growth, and lower cost of ownership for
consumers and the insatiable demand for data services, there is still ample
room for more growth in the sector.
“The restructured and additional
facilities will enable us to continue with the aggressive investment in our
network,” he said. He stated that the company invested $1.6 billion in 2012 and
is investing over US$1.5 billion in 2013.
“Enhancing our network quality is also
a key focus of the investment as we lead the delivery
of a bold new digital world for our customers,” he said.
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