MTN Nigeria's 2021 shareholders beat Eurobonds in real dollar terms, company says
Its own analysis puts the return at 9.9% a year with dividends reinvested, and network spending rose to ₦864.8bn in nine months.
Lagos — People who bought MTN Nigeria shares in its December 2021 public offer and reinvested their dividends earned an annualised real dollar return of 9.9% up to September 2026, the company says.
The analysis, from its nine-month earnings presentation, compares a ₦1 million investment at the ₦169 offer price:
- MTN shares: worth the equivalent of $4,545, with dividends reinvested.
- Nigerian sovereign Eurobonds: $3,433, a 3.6% real return.
- Naira treasury bills: $1,438, a negative real return of 13.6%.
Chief financial officer Modupe Kadri said the comparison was prepared after investors asked about real returns in Nigeria during a roadshow in South Africa. BusinessDay notes the result may not be easy to repeat across the wider stock market.
Still building the network
The company also spent ₦864.8 billion on capital expenditure, excluding leases, in the nine months to September, up 14.2%. It now has 94.7 million subscribers, including 57.2 million active data users. Chief executive Karl Toriola said fibre to the home carries about 13% of its data traffic.
Source: BusinessDay, The Punch, November 2026.
