MTN Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Karl Toriola, has pushed back against growing calls for the Federal Government to revoke the telecom giant’s operating licence over the wave of xenophobic attacks targeting Nigerians in South Africa. Speaking on TVC News’ Beyond the Headlines, Toriola condemned the violence in unequivocal terms while insisting that MTN Nigeria should not be punished for the actions of South African citizens, since the company itself is fundamentally Nigerian in ownership and operation.
The pressure on MTN has been building for weeks. Senator Adams Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo State, had urged the National Assembly to push for the revocation of licences held by MTN and DStv owner MultiChoice, arguing that Nigeria should respond to the attacks with economic retaliation rather than diplomatic appeals alone. Student groups have echoed similar sentiments, with the National Association of Nigerian Students’ South West chapter announcing plans to picket South African-linked businesses operating in the country, describing it as unacceptable for such firms to thrive in Nigeria while Nigerians face violence abroad.
Toriola addressed this criticism directly, stressing that describing MTN as a purely South African entity misrepresents the structure of its shareholding. He explained that MTN Nigeria is listed on the Nigerian stock exchange with over two hundred thousand retail investors, and that roughly eleven million Nigerians hold indirect stakes in the company through their pension funds. He also pointed out that the company’s workforce is overwhelmingly Nigerian, noting that only four expatriates work across the entire organisation, with just one sitting on the executive committee.
The MTN boss further argued that even MTN Group’s South African arm cannot accurately be labelled purely South African, since only half of its shareholding traces back to South Africa, with the rest spread across global investors. He described the “South African company” tag often applied to MTN as lacking any real factual basis. Toriola also highlighted that MTN Nigeria has served as a talent pipeline for the wider MTN Group, producing executives who now lead operations in other African markets, including the current Nigerian chief executive of MTN Benin.
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To reinforce the company’s long-term commitment to the country, Toriola revealed that MTN Nigeria is preparing to break ground on a new corporate headquarters in Nigeria, a project he framed as further proof of the company’s deepening local roots. This is not the first time MTN’s leadership has leaned into a Nigerianisation strategy. The company has spent recent years building a largely Nigerian executive team and gradually reducing the MTN Group’s majority stake in the local unit, moves widely seen as an effort to insulate the business from regulatory and public backlash.
The xenophobic attacks have already strained diplomatic relations between Abuja and Pretoria, with Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, criticising South Africa’s government for failing to firmly condemn the violence. Nigeria has also begun repatriating citizens affected by the unrest, as public anger continues to grow over the treatment of Nigerians in South Africa.
