President Cyril Ramaphosa could be drawn into a forensic probe initiated by the Nigerian government into alleged foreign exchange violations by banks acting on behalf of SA telecommunications giant MTN. Ramaphosa’s former investment holding company, Shanduka, is among previous and current shareholders in MTN Nigeria whose names have cropped up during a forensic audit of billions of dollars flowing in and out of Nigeria. The audit centres on foreign exchange declarations the banks issued to MTN, for whom Nigeria is the biggest and most lucrative market. A confidential audit report, which Finance Uncovered has seen, makes no allegations of wrongdoing against MTN, but its claims raise questions about whether MTN knew about its bankers’ alleged violation of Nigerian laws and even if it might have benefited from this. Ramaphosa was also nonexecutive chairman of MTN during the time of the banks’ alleged violations. MTN said it had not been approached by the authorities, adding that the co...
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