Telecoms giant, MTN has revealed plans to borrow about NGN400 billion in Nigeria in 2018.
The company said it is in search of local investment financing and to replace existing debt in Nigeria.
To raise the required fund, MTN is planning to sell bonds and take out long-term loans as Nigeria recovers from a 2016 economic contraction.
This is in addition to plans to list MTN Nigeria on the Nigerian Stock Exchange by the end of 2018.
“We want to gear up our debt on an operational level away from the holding structure. The debt must be where the Ebidta is and we want to raise as much as possible in local currency,” the Chief Financial Officer, MTN, Ralph Mupita, told Bloomberg.
The CFO revealed that MTN intends to shift its focus from dollar-denominated debt to debt in local currencies where it operates.
What the operator is doing is similar to what it recently where it raised money in local currency for its Ghanaian and Ivory Coast operations, according to Bloomberg data.
Valued at 234 billion rand, the company’s net debt rose to 57 billion rand ($4.5 billion) in 2017 from 52 billion rand the previous year.
