CBN says brand remains strong

Mr Godwin Emefiele, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says that Etisalat, one of the four biggest telecommunication companies in Nigeria remains strong with a solid revenue base.

Emefiele said this while fielding questions from newsmen at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the CBN on Tuesday in Abuja.

According to him, the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), supported by the CBN intervened in the company because of its huge contribution to the nation’s economy.

“Etisalat employs more than 4,000 workers, with about 20 million subscribers nationwide,’’ Emefiele said.

The CBN governor noted that the apex bank and NCC could not allow the company to go down because of the negative impact on jobs, which was capable of impacting on the economy.

While expressing delight in the indication of interests by some potential investors in the rescue of the communications company, Emefiele said that the interventions were temporal.

“The intervention is temporal, it should not last more than 90 to180 days."

“I am gratified that potential investors are taking part,’’ Emefiele said.

Etisalat had been struggling to meet its contractual agreement with its creditors before the intervention of the NCC with the support of the CBN.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the MPC meeting ended with a resolution to retain interest rates at 14 per cent and other monetary policy parameters.

This is about the 7th time since July 2016, that the CBN had retained the rates.