MTN suspends Nigeria dividend payout amid allegation of illegal fund transfer

South African mobile phone operator MTN Group has suspended dividend payouts from its Nigerian unit, it said on Monday, amid allegations that it illegally moved $14 billion out of the west African country.

"MTN Nigeria continues to refute the allegations that MTN Nigeria had improperly repatriated funds from Nigeria," it said in its quarterly update.

Nigeria's upper house of parliament last month agreed to investigate whether Africa's biggest telecoms company unlawfully repatriated $13.92 billion between 2006 and 2016.

The Johannesburg-based company reported a slight fall in the number of users in the third quarter due to a weaker showing in a fiercely competitive home market, where it vies for market share with Vodacom and Cell C.