MTN ignored a SIM registration order — Nigeria fined it $5.2B

MTN was Africa’s largest mobile operator, with its most valuable market in Nigeria serving over 60 million subscribers. In 2015, the Nigerian Communications Commission ordered all telecom operators to disconnect improperly registered SIM cards as part of a national security crackdown. MTN failed to comply with the deadline.

An audit revealed that MTN Nigeria had 5.2 million unregistered or improperly registered subscriber lines that had not been disconnected. The NCC imposed a fine of $1,000 per unregistered line, totalling $5.2 billion — the largest fine in telecommunications history. The penalty was equivalent to MTN’s entire annual revenue in Nigeria.

MTN’s CEO Sifiso Dabengwa resigned. The company’s share price fell 17% in a single day. After diplomatic intervention between the South African and Nigerian governments, the fine was reduced to $3.2 billion, payable over three years. MTN’s Nigeria subsidiary was forced to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as part of the settlement. The episode damaged MTN’s reputation and exposed the risk of regulatory complacency in Africa’s largest telecom market.