The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has wielded the big stick on Lonestar Cell MTN Mobile, Liberia’s largest mobile money company and subsidiary of the South Africa’s telecommunications behemoth, MTN.

According to reports, the West African country’s financial regulator found the mobile money company guilty of several regulatory infractions and imposed on it (MTN) a fine running into millions of Liberian dollars.

A report published in FrontPageAfrica (FPAfrica), a newspaper in Liberia, claimed that a letter addressed to Mr Rahul De, the Managing Director of the company, CBL noted that the company was being fined because of “continuous violations of CBL’s mobile money regulations and failure to conform to the minimum corporate governance requirements by the CBL.”

However, rather than paying the fine and complying with the CBL directives, the CEO instead wrote to the CBL and appealed that the fine be waived.  In another letter, CBL rejected the appeal and re-affirmed its directives that the fine be paid immediately and that the company should bring itself into compliance with the CBL regulations.

The CBL, as per the report,  further stated that since MTN Mobile Money became operational, it has been in continuous violation of the CBL regulations.

While sources close to CBL confirmed that the fine has now been paid, it was revealed that the company has still not yet complied with the CBL regulations.  In the second letter by the regulator, the CBL warned MTN Mobile Money that further failure to comply with the timelines given by the regulator could result in the imposition of additional penalties.

In a related development, the local Liberian shareholders of MTN Mobile Money have sued the company in the Commercial Court of Liberia for non-compliance with their rights as shareholders.

Industry operatives say that the South African telecommunications giant’s corporate conduct of flouting and/or ignoring government regulations is not limited to Liberia.

They have done so in various West African countries where they operate, resulting in heavy fines and even shutdowns of their offices.   In Nigeria, for example, they have been fined billions of US dollars in recent years.  In October 2015, the regulator slammed MTN with a fine of N1.04 trillion naira, the equivalent to $5.2 billion at the exchange rate prevailing at the time, following their failure to cut off five million unregistered subscribers after a deadline set by the NCC, in agreement with major telcos in the country.

In 2017, in Benin Republic, MTN’s refusal to pay the regulatory fees due to the Government of Benin resulted in the expulsion of the MTN Benin CEO, Stephen Blewitt (now CEO of MTN Ghana) from that country.

Similarly, in January of this year, Guinea’s Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ARPT) shut down MTN’s headquarters in Conakry. According to local media reports, the Guinean regulator accused the mobile operator of non-payment of taxes, fees and license fees.

The Pan-African telecommunications giant also allegedly has a reputation for marginalization of local shareholders in various countries where they operate.  These local shareholders are now fighting back, through various litigations and appeals to regulatory authorities for redress and protection.  In Benin, in recent years, a local shareholder had his rights trampled over so consistently that he had to bring a lawsuit against MTN in the British High Courts.

In Cameroon, MTN has shown its unwillingness not only to pay regulatory fees to the governments under whose licenses it operates, but also has the same attitude towards local contractors and professionals.

It remains to be seen whether the CBL will allow MTN Liberia to continue to ignore its regulations, which have the force of law in Liberia, and continue to flout the public policy of the Liberian government regarding local content.