South African telco MTN wins first round in a $125 million court case against Access Bank
The dispute traces back to a fiber-sharing deal over a decade ago.
MTN has dodged a major financial hit, at least for now, following a Federal High Court in Lagos denying Access Bank’s attempt to freeze MTN’s bank accounts over a whopping ₦180.95 billion ($125 million) debt claim.
The dispute traces back to a fiber-sharing deal over a decade ago, and the judge has made it clear that MTN must be heard before any drastic measures are taken.
So, how did we get here? Back in the early 2010s, MTN entered into an infrastructure-sharing agreement with Multi-Links Telecommunications, a now-defunct telco once owned by Telkom South Africa. The deal gave both sides “irrefutable rights of use” of each other’s fiber networks for 10 years, which expired in 2024. While MTN reportedly used Multi-Links’ infrastructure extensively, Multi-Links, struggling with financial woes, barely used MTN’s network.
Kelechi Edeh
When Multi-Links sank into insolvency, Diamond Bank placed it under receivership. That’s where Access Bank comes in—after acquiring Diamond Bank in 2019, Access inherited the Multi-Links mess. Fast-forward a few years, and a company called Hoop Telecoms popped up, claiming it had acquired Multi-Links’ fiber assets and retroactively billed MTN nearly ₦170 billion for historical usage. MTN pushed back hard, arguing it owed just over ₦1 billion under the original deal and pointing out that Hoop didn’t even have a valid telecom licence. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reportedly agreed.
Despite that, Access Bank aligned itself with Hoop’s claims and filed a suit asking the court to freeze MTN’s accounts across all Nigerian banks. But Justice Akintayo Aluko wasn’t convinced. In his ruling, he emphasised the need to hear MTN’s side first, especially given the financial and reputational weight of the case. He denied the Mareva injunction—a powerful legal freeze order—and adjourned the case to June 23, giving MTN a chance to show why its accounts shouldn't be frozen.
This case unfolds even as MTN doubles down on infrastructure collaboration, recently signing fresh network-sharing agreements with Airtel and 9mobile. The contrast is stark: while past partnerships are now mired in courtroom drama, today’s deals aim to drive efficiency and expand broadband access across Nigeria and Uganda. Whether this new wave of collaboration avoids the pitfalls of the Multi-Links era remains to be seen—but for now, MTN’s legal playbook is holding firm.
Louis Eriakha
