MTN Nigeria shares recorded a three -month leap on Friday after the partial opening of the telecoms offices nationwide after a shutdown due to reprisal attacks on South African owned businesses as a result of xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in the country.

According to Rueters, shares in MTN, Nigeria’s second-biggest listed firm, rose  5.03 per cent to 139.80 naira each, a level last seen in June. Johannesburg-listed Shoprite shares were up 1.8 percent.

The violence in South Africa has strained relations between Africa’s two biggest economies as Nigeria has taken moves to repatriate her citizens.

MTN Nigeria said its stores remained closed on Friday but skeletal office operations were resuming, its spokesman said, adding that staff were asked to stay at home for safety reasons.

Prior to the shutdown, the telecoms firm last week launched a mobile money transfer service, targeting Nigerians without bank accounts, and said it planned to become a payment services bank once it obtains approval from the apex bank.