MTN is justified in trying to  relocate to Ghana and Nigeria Govt is justified in increasing their tax  and others who relocate headoffice operation or outsource a substantiual part of it. Its just sad that the tax won't go into employment generation. It will just end up in the pockets of a few fat-headed politicians.

_{All these hype about Ghana are all fuss the US is using to protect their CIA headquarters in Africa which is based in Accra. The only difference between Ghana and Nigeria is electricity and level of sanity.Ghana is still a poor church rat that can not attain such stride come 2020.You need to visit Ghana and see how filthy Accra is.Ghana is only 23million and boast of 2million mad people}

Why player hating? I think Nigeria needs to sort their own mess out, not blame Ghana Its a competitive arena, everybody fighting for development, if the Ghanaian environment is more favourable for an HQ why not go for it. Remember they are not running a charity, this is a business, if Nigerians are able to get one voice I am sure you can can boycott MTN - but this seems 100%unlikely - based on your track record. Nigeria cant even agree on distributing its oil resources properly, a failed state now the only country in Africa involved in terrorism!

Why player hating? I think Nigeria needs to sort their own mess out, not blame Ghana Its a competitive arena, everybody fighting for development, if the Ghanaian environment is more favourable for an HQ why not go for it. Remember they are not running a charity, this is a business, if Nigerians are able to get one voice I am sure you can can boycott MTN - but this seems 100%unlikely - based on your track record. Nigeria cant even agree on distributing its oil resources properly, a failed state now the only country in Africa involved in terrorism

I am a christian and I am vehemently against terrorism of any kind.I guess you are not from Africa or you are not informed.Have you ever heard of Somalia,Sudan,Libya,the Congo brothers and Eritrea.They are all African countries Google them or check their history and also get info from US.gov on them.

@Kob, which I presume stands for Kobina. Let me not remind you that before any Nigerian was involved in terrorism, a Ghanaian was involved in plotting the 7/7 bombing in London.

Dont make me bring up the articles here and make you eat you words.

@ Londonner[table]@Kob, which I presume stands for Kobina. Let me not remind you that before any Nigerian was involved in terrorism, a Ghanaian was involved in plotting the 7/7 bombing in London.

Dont make me bring up the articles here and make you eat you words.[/table]

Well thanks for the reminder, the import of my message is Nigeria needs to sort its mess out! I bet you will disagree with this . I am sure the Ghanaians sorted their mess hence MTN going there.

It will be worth reading the context of such messages not dwelling on the crossing of the i's and t's.

.

@Kob, if you had read some of my prior posts on this thread, you would have seen that I agree that Nigeria needs to sort herself out 100%, but you took a low blow with the terrorist comment and you shouldn't have, since your own countryman was involved in the same thing years prior, and you are well aware of it. if it was just a dotting of I's and T's then you should never had made that comment in the first place perhaps?

I have already said that MTN's decision made good business sense and that is what they are in, business. You would have known that, had you read the thread in entirety instead of just the last page.

It is quite true that Nigeria business atmosphere may ot be as friendly as Ghana and the fact that Ghana has moved slightly ahead of Nigeria in infastructural development but we still have something going for us, we have the population. It is absolutely unfair for mtn to rake in so much from Nigeria and yet complain of unfriendly atmosphere. If they loose all their Nigeria subsribers how will their profit base fare. This is an insult and i think Nigerians should protest.We have been shortchanged by this companies before with high rate of drop calls and unfair charges, they end up taking their west Africa head office to Ghana-We should boycot Mtn at least for a month and let us see how they justify our unfriendliness business atmosphere. This is also a clarion call to our government to clear up the mess before the "giant" is totally turned to the "ant" of Africa.

@ Dking, MTN does not need to have their head office in Nigeria to serve the Nigerian market. Why should they stay if it means more expense? If your clients live in Asokoro and you can move your office to Gwagwalada and cut down your costs and at the same time, still provide your prior customer base with their products, would you not relocate and save money?

Now, as I have heard MTN service is very poor in Nigeria, if you want to protest them over that then fine, but then you should have done this when you started getting drop calls, not just because they are relocating to Ghana.
A protest against bad service is a totally different issue.

If we protest anybody, it should be the Nigerian government/ minister in charge of infrustructure to be honest, the infrustructure was their responsibility and they have fallen short, they are answerable to Nigerians, NOT MTN!

@ londoner

I think we all converge somewhere- which makes me happy.  Unfortunately haven't read your earlier posts, but I think its about time the numerous brains in Nigeria do something about your country. Who am I to be advicing you , nobody!  but as an African it pains my heart to see a country of such immense wealth. human resources etc going the path it is. Ghana is no where near Nigeria in terms of human resources or wealth, but are managing to sort themselves out of the mess we had ourselves in back in the days, and I remember the Agege days very well as a child when Ghanaians were flocking to Nigeria only to be deported well well.

My wish is for Nigerians to sort their mess, strive for unity, an environment where religious differences can managed and respected, eschew tribalism etc.
I sense the negative anti Ghana feeling here and find it rather amusing in this day and age

. Instead of hating MTN who pulled out of Nigeria, or looking at the reasons why they are leaving and rectifying, some forumers are hating Ghana , and that is a typical African mentality- my broda shouldn't succeed.

@Kob, I am with you 100% and so are most Nigerians. We already know our pitfalls, more than you do. Yes there seems to be some negative feeling anytime the names of these countries are mentioned, but if you think this bad, you may want to look at Ghanaweb, which I also watch daily. Anytime the name Nigeria is mentioned, the hatred which usually ensues is horrifying.

Its something which is not monopolised by Nigerians alone.

As you rightly said Ghana has turned herself around from yesteryear, and it took time. In a country the size of Nigeria, dont you think it will take even longer, especially as we have hurdles to clear which you didn't? Especially religious extremism and tribalism of such a huge extent as it is in Nigeria. Even one of our main tribes, is bigger then your whole population, add to that the memory of a civil war and the distrust that followed ans still persists, even with average Nigerians. At least the majority of Ghanaians are one religion and also one tribe. We have a nation which is not an overwhelming majority of any religion or tribe, so it is so easily exploited.

Lets not even get started with the fact that til date, Nigeria has had more time under military rule than civilian, a
nd even then we haven't had one democratic election. Ghana has had several democratic elections back to back.

Deleted because of repetition. Apologies

These are not excuses, but are reasons and I remind you that your up hill struggle was in no way as steep as Nigeria faces. Its not the same situation at all, and people forget that.

If people really GENUINELY want to see Nigeria succeed, then they need to stop revelling in Nigeria's failures. Our neighbours have not reached that point yet, if they are honest with themselves.

We do need to be inward looking, but it doesn't mean we should take everything thrown at us, especially by those who benefit from what we have. For example the oil companies, we are blamed for poor infrustructure, fine, but for over fifty years they made billions off Nigeria and were willing to do so until the oil ran dry and in that SAME poor infrustructure too, but for some Nigerians reacting to their neglect of their area.

Look, these oil companies were suppose to be putting infrustructure in the areas they now complain of, just like they do elsewhere in the world. They are not blamless in that nor, for the security situation which they have helped to create.


Anyhoo, I fully accept that we need to be inward looking at vleast for the next ten years and sort out our numerous internal issues. That is obvious to me.

Spike88 writes "why all the ranting against MTN. I worked in telecoms for the last 9yrs and was well paid and well exposed. Nigeria's economy had declined year on year whilst the telco's invest in the latest technology just to serve the so called 'enlightened' Nigerian populace in the midst of declining security for their operations. Remember we their staff are also part of their operations. I have worked in many different parts of the country so I have paid my dues.

Nigeria does not deserve the prestige of these companies. Why must they continue to suffer, are they charity organisations? Even I am taking a hiatus and moving to Ghana, abeg! enough is enough! This unrealistic love we have for this our so called country.

Only a blind person will judge companies like MTN negatively. If I went to Central Lagos or even the remote parts of this country and offered 10 random people a slightly more predictable life in another country, guess how many will decline. None I dare say!

We need to bring back the death penalty and firing squad for corrupt leaders (public & private)"

1. It is not true that the Nigerian economy has declined. Infact its GDP has grown steadily. In 2008 and 2009 (global recession years), the Nigerian economy still grew. Check World Bank sites and CBN annual reports
2. What prestige of these countries do we not derserve? MTN makes about N1b daily from recharge cards in Nigeria. Are Nigerians owing MTN for calls made? MTN came here to apply for licence. If they see it as a favour to us, let them leave and go back to their 2nd position behind vodacom when all the results are consolidated. Why did Etisalat buy a new licence for $400m if the environment is so unprofitable?
3. Oh, not every Nigerian wants to go abroad. It is not every qualified Nigerian that applies for HSMP or visa lottery. So your bet about 100% proclivity to check out is way off. And by the way, a lot of people from every country on earth will like to relocate to another country where (by definition) life is better. Ghanaians would do so to
4. Yes bring back the death penalty for all part leaders. We need to clean up the place
5. By the way, if MTN sees the matter as an entirely business decision, why does it not try to be consisent and move out of Nigeria completely ans save itself the stress of opearting in this unduly harsh Nigerian environment. The point people are making is that if you can operate (and make 65% of the income that will be used to pay the regional office staff) in Nigeria, then you should be able to have that regional office in Nigeria.
6. By the way, MTN is a South African country. That is a country that has been very ungrateful. The country will not allow Main Street to land their submarine cable in South Africa. Why because it is not a South AFrican company. To get a licence, it needs to dilute its equity and let in some South Africans. Yet Nigeria has given a similar licence to WACS - a wholly South AFrican consortium - the right to land land its submarine cable in Nigeria
I believe that only Nigeria practises naive capitalism or the version that is sanctioned by leaders after they have been bribed. Locating a regional office is not a purely business issue. The last time SA VP came to Nigeria, it was not about world cup, but business. When America's Boeing wanted to relocate its plant within the US, the state that was going to give up the plant lobbied hard to retain it. The lobbyists knew it would not be decided entirely by economists. How often do you see any country's foreign minister travel alone? They are always accompanied by businessmen
And success breeds sucess. When a country that wins an investment wants to market itself, it will refer to existing companies already resident there. So these decisions have multipplier effects

@ kob while i want to agree with on most of the issues raised, but the direction of your tone is not all that cool. Quite agree with Nigeria viz Nigerians has a lot of sorting out to do but tagging us as the only nation in Africa involved in terrorism is not entirely a nice comment (though am not lloking for niceties from you). instead of us Nigerian whinning over MTN doin this or that, all MTN subscribers simply dump your lines and see if MTN would not race back to Nigeria.

@Maddock, the fact that you have to force a company to have their head office in your country says it all.

The aim is to make Nigeria into a nation which they will CHOOSE to be in. Did Ghana force anyone to put their head office there?

You are not getting the wider issues which this MTN decision is highlighting. You want to blow out a candle, while a raging fire is burning the house down.

@ londoner
Am not saying anybody should force MTN to stay in Nigeria against their wish, but what they are getting should be the detemining factor.Going to Ghana at this stage would definitely not have been a good strategy especially with the not too pleasant relationship in recent times between the two countries . For those of us that works in corporate organisation HQ is where the action is, whether we like it or not decisions and policies that will emanate from Ghana would definitely not favour Nigeria and Nigerians.

@Maddock, do you really think MTN will allow decisions in Ghana to jeopardise its bread and butter market in West Africa, which is Nigeria? Do you think this is about jumping on a petty rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana, come on now.

Look, MTN will not allow anything to affect their pocket, as evidenced in this decision. The point still stands, we have bigger fish to fry. I really dont believe those making decisions in Ghana will do so deliberately against Nigeria, I just dont believe thats how they intend to go about business.

londoner:

@Maddock, do you really think MTN will allow decisions in Ghana to jeopardise its bread and butter market in West Africa, which is Nigeria? Do you think this is about jumping on a petty rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana, come on now.

Look, MTN will not allow anything to affect their pocket, as evidenced in this decision. The point still stands, we have bigger fish to fry. I really dont believe those making decisions in Ghana will do so deliberately against Nigeria, I just dont believe thats how they intend to go about business.

MTN will only do what will improve their margins

if movin an admin head to Ghana will affect sales in Nigera, i bet they will come back to Nigeria. and besides, what decisions will they make in Accra that will be at cross purposes with the global strategy MTN has

MTN is in biz to make money and i dont think moving a regional head to Accra will cause pains for us.

@Londoner

I spend as much time on Ghanaweb and this forum, and its interesting sentiments all over. I know what the anti Naija feelings are like and how high tensions can be.   To the challenges Naija faces I understand, and know this is herculean. But Nigeria keeps drifting back and forth since the Shehu Shagari days. Comparatively, Ghana had the same problems but once we came out military rule we vowed  not to go back. Ghana has a young democracy but we are fighting tooth and nail to make this work. Its not easy, far from perfect, but one thing we all understand is trying to keep people accountable. All political parties agree on that. We know it will take a long time to achieve but on thing is for sure we are tweaking as we go along. Now nobody prefers a military dictator to right any politicians wrong. We vote them out! Politicians are being kept on their toes daily.

Nigeria's progress is now being hampered by avoidable problems and that is the cause for worry. Little things that make a big difference. Look at the leadership vacuum, what's the Vice president for? back in the coup days, this was fertile ground for a military intervention in any African country- God forbid!
I don't think Ghanaians want Nigeria to fail. We supported you all along, in athletics, football in your glory days etc. but its sad Nigeria is just sinking, hence my call for you to sort the mess out internally not blame MTN.
On another note, I have also experienced  the effects of tribalism and how this affected Ghana, because I am from a minority in Ghana so fully understand that it is a problem for Nigeria, however how long will this be an excuse?  The world is moving and not waiting on Africa's most important country to fix its problems.  You need to act quick and immediate otherwise the domino effect continues, sort  political problems, then the investor confidence rises.   Be ready to learn from Ghana as we also learn from you, so long guys!

Kob:

@Londoner

I spend as much time on Ghanaweb and this forum, and its interesting sentiments all over. I know what the anti Naija feelings are like and how high tensions can be. To the challenges Naija faces I understand, and know this is herculean. But Nigeria keeps drifting back and forth since the Shehu Shagari days. Comparatively, Ghana had the same problems but once we came out military rule we vowed not to go back. Ghana has a young democracy but we are fighting tooth and nail to make this work. Its not easy, far from perfect, but one thing we all understand is trying to keep people accountable. All political parties agree on that. We know it will take a long time to achieve but on thing is for sure we are tweaking as we go along. Now nobody prefers a military dictator to right any politicians wrong. We vote them out! Politicians are being kept on their toes daily.

Nigeria's progress is now being hampered by avoidable problems and that is the cause for worry. Little things that make a big difference. Look at the leadership vacuum, what's the Vice president for? back in the coup days, this was fertile ground for a military intervention in any African country- God forbid!
I don't think Ghanaians want Nigeria to fail. We supported you all along, in athletics, football in your glory days etc. but its sad Nigeria is just sinking, hence my call for you to sort the mess out internally not blame MTN.
On another note, I have also experienced the effects of tribalism and how this affected Ghana, because I am from a minority in Ghana so fully understand that it is a problem for Nigeria, however how long will this be an excuse? The world is moving and not waiting on Africa's most important country to fix its problems. You need to act quick and immediate otherwise the domino effect continues, sort political problems, then the investor confidence rises. Be ready to learn from Ghana as we also learn from you, so long guys!

Nicely and artistically crafted

Reason they don't want to run there headquaters on electricity generators and multiple taxation .there is a new product right now in the market called fueless electricity generator.works 24 hrs,no fuel,no solar or wind,no charcoal,no smoke,no noise.Be the first to know.for further details visit my blog at
http://www.powersolutionsng..com

Godopinion:

Reason they don't want to run there headquaters on electricity generators and multiple taxation .there is a new product right now in the market called fueless electricity generator.works 24 hrs,no fuel,no solar or wind,no charcoal,no smoke,no noise.Be the first to know.for further details visit my blog at
http://www.powersolutionsng..com

How does it work?

@Kob, I agree with your points as they are the same as mine, but your task in Ghana has always been less formidable. Obasanjo was the first to hand over to civilian rule( notice I did not say democratic rule) he himself from the military and his style has not changed, this current president was forced upon PDP and Nigeria by OBJ, no election has taken place, for us to even "tweak". Once we have had one, then we know we can begin to make progress. Progress is being hampered because a few stand to gain sooo much by maintaining the status quo, thats is the problem. Even if you look at the power situation, some people are benefitting handsomely from it being epileptic.

You may be from a minority tribe, but I'm sure you know its a different kettle of fish to the tribalism between Nigerians, ours runs so much deeper than anything in Ghana. Thats why I dont want Ghanaians to make comparisons as if they have gone through the same thing, because if you look closely they really havent.

You were under military rule under a man who was and still is fiercely patriotic to Ghana, big difference.

Anyhoo, I think we are saying the same thing overall.

Ghana has taken a bold step. kudos!!

Wow why am I not surprised at comments from my fellow Nigerian. From a business perspective, I support them if they decide to move to Nigeria, Nigeria has an unfriendly business environment not for the consumers but on the companies side. I wrote a thesis paper one time and was comparing investment trends across Africa. I compared Nigeria to 4 other West African nations in terms of investment policies, capital requirements and so on. As we are so not developed like other countries, Nigeria is the only country that would add x10 of capital base requirement of any other country like banking, telecomm, and so on. How do you suggest that they cope. Also, one think people forget a foreign investment/business is always foreign and thier operations can easily be altered in an unstable political, and economical environment even though statistics says we're growing but we not developing. MTN decided to have its HQ there for several reasons and I certainly would bet it wasn't cost, assuming if it was the cost, there are a thousand other reasons why they decided to go to Ghana. Finally, its just a HQ for crying out loud, who says they won't pay Nigerian Govt its taxes, annual licensing fee, FCC fees, and so the fees goes on. I mean if Organizational structure be done right, companies have less than 100 people working at the HQ so we can't say it for job purposes. They just did that to streamline operations and be flexible in terms of policies so when Nigerian Govt and it chaos begins, it wont affect the entire company.

I strongly believe that why they chose to move to Ghana is because of investment policies that are constantly and continually changing so it soothes the needs of selfish people.

tkb417 (m)
Lagos-Nigeria
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Re: Insult: MTN Locates West African Headquarters In Ghana
« #210 on: Yesterday at 02:06:09 PM »

Quote from: londoner on Yesterday at 01:56:17 PM
@Maddock, do you really think MTN will allow decisions in Ghana to jeopardise its bread and butter market in West Africa, which is Nigeria? Do you think this is about jumping on a petty rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana, come on now.

Look, MTN will not allow anything to affect their pocket, as evidenced in this decision. The point still stands, we have bigger fish to fry. I really dont believe those making decisions in Ghana will do so deliberately against Nigeria, I just dont believe thats how they intend to go about business.
MTN will only do what will improve their margins

if movin an admin head to Ghana will affect sales in Nigera, i bet they will come back to Nigeria. and besides, what decisions will they make in Accra that will be at cross purposes with the global strategy MTN has

MTN is in biz to make money and i dont think moving a regional head to Accra will cause pains for us.

Nicely put.
One thing i noticed is that many have not taken time to digest the actual meaning of the action carried out .
We've only been running around the topic.
Let me categorically let you know that the West African HQ was never in place anywhere in West Africa before.
Its just an office comprising of a set of Executives who oversee transactions taking place in several regions.
It was never in Nigeria and has no direct impact or decision on what transpires within MTN nigeria.
Their's West africa regional Exec, South africa regional Exec , Central Africa regional Exec and Middle East regional Exec.
All have before now maintained offices in SA but a decision was made to place them strategically in the regions.
They more or less oversee regional transactions and also hold meetings with Each Country under its Umbrella.
MTN Ghana happens to be under the WECA and while we keep fighting and bickering , the fact remains that Ghana as at this moment hold a more stable economy , policy and government as well as cheap means of survival. Ask STANBIC, STANDARD CHARTERED, ECOBANK,CISCO, MICROSOFT,NCR,OVATION etc.
Yes, Nigeria has all the potentials but like talent, if not properly harnessed turns to terror, hence ,the decision to keep the office in Ghana.
Would it suffice you to know that only MTN Nigeria has had the priviledge of having a member of the GROUP BOARD as the CEO before.
MTN Nigeria has the largest staff strength and i mean Nigerians. Nigerians also have the largest group of expatriate in all the other countries.
The issue remains putting our house in order.
I was reading about the the upgrading of one of our facilities for the u-17 world cup that took place last year and i wept.
Imagine paying more than 7billion naira for an upgrade(refurbished) of while SA are paying less than 4billion for a new one for the WORLD CUP and the funnier side is that we are yet to get the upgrade even after the tournament.
We need to really stop ,sit down and put our house in order. We must either get it or die trying.

MTN is becoming the latest thief in Nigeria!
Was there any reason for them to create a GPS in their lines?

Yes they should Nigeria is a bunch of waste, no light fuel problem, and many to come, its a futurelesss nation

sunnykiss:




Yes they should Nigeria is a bunch of waste, no light fuel problem, and many to come, its a futurelesss nation

don't fully agree with u.only if we keep on having useless leaders, and followers who see no better future - like u are doing

God, am really angry, i feel like exploding, sometimes I feel like staying away from the news, there is glo and zain, glo is owned by a Nigerian, why don't we patronize ppl that patronizes us

they ar indirectly telling us to put our house in order.no sentiment pls.