Prime Business Africa
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, started 2025 as a millionaire shareholder, but thanks to the company’s bullish run in the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, also known as the stock market, he now has a billion-naira net worth.
As of the end of December 2024, the last time MTN disclosed its shareholders’ volume of shares, Totiola held 4.08 million shares in the telecommunications company.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe value of the shares on January 2 was N817.37 million, according to Prime Business Africa’s analysis of MTN’s share performance at the beginning of this year.
However, year-to-date, the share price of MTN has skyrocketed by N275, moving from N200 on January 2 to N475 as of November 20, as the company became one of the most sought-after assets in the Nigerian stock market.
The rise in MTN’s share price was driven by the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) approval for network providers to increase data prices and call tariffs — a decision that drove MTN’s revenue up.
Prime Business Africa analysis showed that the jump in MTN’s share price led to a 137.5 percent appreciation or gain in the investment held by the company’s shareholders, including Totiola.
This amounted to N1.12 billion gain for Toriola within 11 months, leading to his net worth value in MTN to rise from N817.37 million recorded at the start of this year, to N1.94 billion as of November 20.
Prime Business Africa also gathered that other shareholders of MTN have gained N5.77 trillion so far this year from the significant market rally recorded by the telecommunications company.
The surge in MTN’s share price has also lifted the company’s market valuation during the period under review, as the network provider is now valued at N9.97 trillion on the NGX, compared to the N4.19 trillion it was worth earlier in January.
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Prime Business Africa is a business, economy and policy news platform founded in 2021 by veteran journalist and media scholar, Dr Marcel Mbamalu, after he left The Guardian as Editor.
Dr Mbamalu, who serves as Founder and Publisher, set up Prime Business Africa to deliver sharp, data-driven reporting on Nigeria’s markets, trade, investment, and governance trends for decision-makers, entrepreneurs, and policy leaders.
He also writes The Bottom Line, a backpage column for Punch Newspaper every Thursday.
Under his leadership, Prime Business Africa combines deep newsroom experience with a focus on accountability journalism, aiming to bridge information gaps between Africa’s private sector and the global economy.
