Many Nigerians refused to invest in MTN Nigeria – Pascal Dozie
South African owned telecoms firm MTN is 15 years old in Nigeria but its foundation is 10. Dr. Pascal Dozie, a Nigerian shareholder, is a director of MTN Foundation. In this interview, he explains how people turned down the offer to buy into the company when it first arrived Nigeria 15 years ago. where we operate. Every organisation has a responsibility and it depends on you to either accept the responsibility or not. We wanted to be a good corporate citizen and that has been the hall mark of all our operations. To harmonise our goal and objectives, we thought about which sectors we can make meaningful impact. A study was carried out in 2003 on our Corporate Social Investment Initiative (CSI). From the results of the study, it was recommended that we focus on three areas of health, education and economic empowerment. We decided to back the process up with sufficient resources both in terms of finances and capacity to execute.
How do you sustain the activities of the foundation?
MTN donates 1% of its profit after tax to the Foundation’s activities to carry out CSI activities in Nigeria. We looked for people with impeccable character, whose values can be emulated, who are not tempted, corrupt and have no skeletons in their cupboards. Apart from the board members we also have patrons, eminent and experienced Nigerians and statesmen who watch and serve as the third eye of the MTNF Board. We have endeavoured to touch many aspects of life; in education, we are promoting excellence in schools, promoting excellence in music and providing schools with computers to ensure our children are computer literate.
On economic empowerment, we are helping women set up businesses. In the health sector, we have funded the installation of machines that help in the early detection of cancer. With these interventions, we are fulfilling our responsibilities as a company to Nigerians; not only set up to make profits but to enhance and improve the lives of Nigerians. To ensure we achieve our goals, we have decided that anywhere MTN exist, the MTN Foundation must be present. It might interest you to know that MTN contributes 4% of Nigeria’s GDP and that speaks volumes in terms of our activities. In essence, I believe giving is an over flow of concern. It is about whatever you can do to alleviate other people’s burden.
MTN was virtually non-existent in Nigeria some 15 years ago but today that has changed. You have been part of the whole story. Could you tell us how it all began?
Over the years, Nigeria has made efforts to improve its telecommunications industry. That attempt became realistic during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration when the government decided to invite mobile telecommunications operators into the country to bid for operating licenses because NITEL was no longer an option. Then, MTN, a South African company, decided to come to Nigeria to bid. During the bidding, the company sought for partnership with other businesses in Nigeria on a 40-60% basis in favour of the South Africans. Unfortunately, there was push backs apparently because mobile telephony was a new concept in Nigeria, not understood by many people.
Also, most foreign investors whom we approached were not sure about the success of operating a telecommunication company in Nigeria. Eventually, it turned out that the ratio of ownership between MTN South Africa and MTN Nigeria was about 21% for Nigeria investors and about 79% for MTN International, South Africa. Our inability to find Nigerians willing to invest initially explains the ownership structure. The statement that ‘success has many friends’ came true after few years of our operations. Some of my friends whom I invited earlier started making enquiries, blaming me for not pressurising them to join in the business. However, after much deliberation, the Nigerian and South African investors entered into a shareholders’ agreement and started the bidding. Luckily, we won. We all contributed in terms of equity and within a short period of time, our operations blossomed. What gave birth to the MTN Foundation? As a company, we want to participate in the lives of people living in the communities