MTN says Nigeria services still impacted despite end to fuel strike

ABUJA (Reuters) - Africa's largest telecoms operator, MTN Group, said on Tuesday that its Nigerian services continued to be hampered despite the end of a fuel strike on Monday. Nigeria, its biggest market, has been suffering acute gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel shortages for the last few weeks due to a strike by marketers and distributors over non-payment of subsidies by the government. Africa's biggest oil producer and economy subsidizes gasoline and must import the bulk of the 40 million litres a day that it consumes owing to a neglected refining system. A dilapidated and grossly inadequate power grid means businesses and households depend on diesel for electricity. "Diesel is still not easily available at this time in spite of the end of the fuel strike. It is likely to take some time for normality to be restored," Funmilayo Onajide, a spokeswoman for the company, said. Other local telecoms operators also warned customers of reduced services and banks said they would start closing their branches early from Monday. Airlines, particularly Arik Air, have been forced to cancel or delay domestic flights. With an impending change in government on May 29, stakeholders across the fuel supply chain were concerned that the incoming government may not payout the remaining subsidy debt. Marketers said they were owed around $1 billion. Most importers stopped bringing in tankers and depots were shutdown to deprive retailers of the gasoline and diesel to put pressure on the finance ministry. President-elect Muhammadu Buhari is expected to closely review the subsidy scheme, which was revealed to have paid out over $6 billion in fraudulent claims in 2012. (Reporting by Julia Payne; Editing by James Macharia)