Nigeria Woes Sees MTN's Market Value Sink Below Safaricom
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Once Africa’s largest wireless carrier by market value, MTN Group Ltd.’s shares have been pummeled by a regulatory crisis in Nigeria. With the company facing $10 billion in claims from authorities, the plunge suggests a zero valuation is being placed on the Nigerian business, according to Morgan Stanley. The drop has seen Nairobi-based Safaricom Plc overtake its Johannesburg-based rival in value even though it has less than a 10th of MTN’s 223 million customers and operates in Kenya, while MTN has units in 21 countries.