MTN Nigeria has seen a drop in traffic after communications regulator the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said in early April it will not extend its new SIM-card registration rules. This meant operators had to restrict outgoing calls of subscribers whose SIMs are not linked with national identity numbers, similar to SA’s ID system.

“However, we have started to see a gradual recovery as the affected subscribers are reconnected to resume voice calls,” CEO Karl Toriola said on Friday in the company’s unaudited results for the quarter to end-March. About 60-million MTN customers, or about 85% of its subscriber base, have submitted their identity numbers...