Mobile giant MTN said Friday that Nigeria’s attorney general had withdrawn a demand for around $2 billion in back taxes in the latest step towards resolving its legal woes with the authorities. “We appreciate this decision of the Attorney General which paves the way to an orderly and amicable resolution of this matter,” MTN Group CEO Rob Shuter said in a statement. MTN, which began operation in Nigeria in 2001, is the country’s largest operator with some 60 million subscribers. In 2018 it agreed to pay a separate $53 million fine after being accused of illegally repatriating $8.13 billion to South Africa. The disputes with MTN have rattled investor confidence in Africa’s most populous nation and tarnished diplomatic relations between continental powerhouses Nigeria and South Africa.

Source: Punch January 10, 2020 15:33 UTC