Airtel Enters Rwanda Market

Indian telecoms group Bharti Airtel has announced it has secured a licence to provide 2G and 3G cellular services in Rwanda, The New Times reports. 

The company plans to invest over USD100 million over the next three years, including USD30 million for the purchase of the operating licence. 

It aims to bring ‘affordable services and innovative products’ to the market, and plans to expand its wireless broadband network to all major towns across the country.

 In June 2010 Bharti Airtel acquired the African assets of Kuwait’s Zain Group, in a deal valued at USD10.7 billion. The company took over Zain’s operations in 15 countries, including Malawi, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

Bharti will join two other mobile operators in the market: South Africa-based MTN Rwanda, which had a total of 2.794 million mobile subscribers at the end of June 2011; and Millicom Rwanda (Tigo), which is majority-owned by Luxembourg-based Millicom International Cellular and had a subscriber base of over 812,000 at the same date. A third operator, Rwandatel, had its mobile licence revoked in April 2011, after the company failed to meet licence obligations, such as coverage, quality of service and planned investment targets. Rwandatel is 80% owned by Libyan government investment vehicle LAP Green Networks, although telecoms regulator RURA said the decision to cancel its mobile licence had nothing to do with enforcing a United Nations (UN) resolution to impose sanctions on Libya, including the freezing of its assets, following unrest in the North African nation.

Rwanda Begins winding Up Libyan-Owned RwandaTel

The Rwandan government has reportedly begun insolvency proceedings in the country’s commercial courts against telecoms operator Rwandatel, which is 80% owned by Libyan government investment vehicle LAP Green Networks. 


According to a report by local daily The New Times, which cites Registrar General Louise Kanyonga, the decision to liquidate Rwandatel – in which the state holds the remaining 20% stake – comes after audited reports found that the company is in financial difficulties.


‘We were in receipt of their audited financial statements for the financial year 2009/10 in which the auditing firm concluded that the company was technically insolvent,’ Kanyonga said, adding: ‘Based on the powers given to the Registrar General by the Insolvency law to institute insolvency proceedings, an application was made to the commercial court in Nyarugenge [on Monday 11 April].’ 


Earlier this month telecoms regulator Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) revoked Rwandatel’s mobile concession due to its failure to meet licence obligations, though the operator’s fixed telephony and ISP permits remain operational. In a separate development, the government last month froze all Libyan-owned assets in Rwanda to enforce United Nations (UN) sanctions following unrest in the North African nation.

Uganda Takes Over Libyan-Owned UTL

The Ugandan government has taken over management of troubled Libyan-owned telecommunications company, Uganda Telecom Ltd. (UTL), Uganda's minister of information and communications technology said Tuesday.

As a regulator and a minority shareholder in Uganda Telcom, the government has decided to take over management of the company to safeguard its interests and the interests of its customers, Aggrey Awori said in a telephone interview with Dow Jones Newswires.

"We cannot sit and watch as things get out of hand," he said.

The Libyan Arab Portfolio, or LAP Green Network, holds a controlling stake in Uganda Telecom.

According to Awori, the move is part of government's decision to implement the United Nations-initiated sanctions against Libya. Last week, the Ugandan central bank took over Libya-owned Tropical African Bank.

Uganda Telecom has been struggling to meet payment obligations to other Ugandan telecom companies arising from interconnection fees. A company spokesman couldn't return calls seeking comment immediately.

Earlier this month, MTN Uganda--a unit of Johannesburg-listed MTN Group Ltd. threatened to block calls to Uganda Telecom over a 20 billion Ugandan shillings ($8.3 million) unpaid interconnection fees that have accumulated over a three-year period.

Airtel Uganda Ltd. also claims that Uganda Telecom owes it UGX8 billion in interconnection fees and had also threatened to terminate calls to the network. Airtel Uganda Ltd. is a unit of India-based Bharti Airtel Ltd.

However, government has prevailed upon the two companies from blocking calls to Uganda Telecom, to avoid inconveniencing the public. People familiar with the situation say that the two companies were now planning to attach some of the properties belonging to Uganda Telecom.

Attachment is a legal process by which a court of law, at the request of a creditor, designates specific property owned by the debtor to be transferred to the creditor, or sold for the benefit of the creditor.

Uganda's foreign affairs minister announced last week that government would freeze Libyan assets worth $375 million; other Libyan-owned companies that have been affected by the sanctions include Tamoil East Africa, National & Housing Construction Company, Laico Lake Victoria Hotel and Libya Oil. 

-Dow Jones Newswires

LAP To Launch In Sierra Leone This April

GreenN Sierra Leone, a subsidiary of LAP Green Network, itself 100% owned by Libyan government-owned investment vehicle Libyan Africa Portfolio (LAP), will launch commercial operations in Sierra Leone’s wireless market in April this year, local newspaper Awoko reports.


Earlier this week Information and Communications Minister Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo made the first official call over the company’s GSM network to President Koroma. The minister said that GreenN Sierra Leone is part of efforts to strengthen the bilateral ties between Sierra Leone and Libya. 


According to GreenN Sierra Leone’s CEO, Elmabruk S. Elgembari, the company plans to invest USD50 million in the next three years, adding that the operator has so far constructed a total of 128 cell sites, including 42 in the provinces. 


The CEO also revealed that GreenN will provide quality and affordable voice, data and internet services. As well as Sierra Leone, LAP holds telecoms licences in six other African countries, including Rwanda, Uganda, Niger, Ivory Coast and Togo.

Zamtel Spends US$34 Million In Fibre-Optic Project

Zambia’s monopoly fixed line operator Zambia Tele- communications Company (Zamtel) claims to have spent approximately USD34 million on laying fibre-optic cable across the country, AllAfrica reports.

The investment figure was revealed by Transport and Communications Deputy Minister Mubika Mubika in Parliament, who in responding to questions about the telco’s future spending plans noted that it remained unclear whether Libya’s LapGreen Networks, which recently acquired a 75% stake in Zamtel, would continue the current fibre rollout project.

LapGreen Networks submitted a USD257 million for the majority stake in Zamtel, and it was announced last month that it had beaten out bids from Russian telecoms investment firm Altimo and Unitel of Angola for the majority holding to win the holding. The government meanwhile has retained the remaining 25% stake, although it may sell this at a later stage through an initial public offering on the Lusaka bourse.

Three Remain for Telcos Zamtel Bid

Of the four companies left in the running to acquire a stake in Zambian fixed line incumbent Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel) only three have submitted final binding bids, with Indian state-owned telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) dropping out of the process after conducting due diligence.

According to Reuters, the withdrawal of BSNL leaves Libya’s LAP Green Networks, Unitel of Angola and Russian telecoms investment firm Altimo chasing the up to 75% stake that the Zambian government plans to offer in the operator.

Commenting on the development, Henry Sakala, the privatisation manager at the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA), said: ‘These bids will be subjected to an evaluation by the ZDA and after the evaluation they will be presented to the ZDA board who are going to make a decision as to which ones to shortlist for negotiations.’ In addition Sakala noted that the ZDA board would appoint an independent team to undertake the negotiations with the successful bidder(s).

Zambia Plans To Transfer Fibre Lines From Zesco to Zamtel

AllAfrica.com reports that the Zambian government is planning to put a number of fibre pairs currently controlled by state-owned power company Zesco in to the hands of Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel). It is understood that the move is part of the state’s plans to make the telco more attractive to potential buyers, as the privatisation process of the operator moves forward.

Under the proposals the government will transfer seven of twelve fibre pairs that Zesco has; of the remaining five, two are used by Zesco to manage its power network, one is used by South Africa-based MTN, which owns a mobile operator in Zambia, while the last two are not currently in use.

Local ISPs have voiced their concerns about the proposals however, with one unnamed market operator stating: ‘All the ISPs don't want this to happen. We have a good relationship with Zesco and we put a lot of capacity through their link. If it happens, I'll have to lay fibre routes and that's not my business. We're looking at VoIP offerings because the current prices of international calling are still USD1.10-USD1.50 a minute.’

At present Chinese vendor Huawei is in the process of rolling out a fibre backbone for Zamtel, but it remains incomplete and by comparison to Zesco’s existing infrastructure is significantly less expansive. Zesco’s fibre network spans the economically active central part of the country from Lumwana and Solwezi in the north to Sesheke in the south.

The Zambian government first announced plans to divest a portion of its stake in Zamtel in December 2008. In September 2009 it revealed it would sell 75% of the struggling operator, and one year after initially unveiling its intention to sell, the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA), which is handling the process, announced the shortlist of bidders: India's Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Unitel of Angola and Libya's LAP Green Networks. Russia’s Altimo was subsequently added to the list, despite submitting its bid after deadline.

LAP Aquires 80% Stake in Sudan's Gemtel

Libyan government investment vehicle Libyan African Investments Portfolio (LAP) has acquired an 80% stake in Southern Sudanese telecoms operator Gemtel via its telecoms arm, LAP Green Networks, Ugandan news source The New Vision reports.

Gemtel was licensed by the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) in 1996 and launched commercial GSM services shortly after in the cities of Juba and Yei. By mid-2009 the company had expanded its footprint to cover Waw, Torit, Bor and Rumbek.

Gemtel uses the dialling code of Uganda (+256), thanks to an interconnection agreement with Uganda Telecom (UTL) signed in September 2006, which allows the cellco to use the gateway for USD50,000 in interconnection fees per month.

LAP Green already operates in East Africa through its 80% shareholding in Rwandan fixed line and mobile telephony operator Rwandatel and 69% stake in UTL. The company also holds an interest in Sahelcom and Sonitel of Niger, and controls Oricel Green, a mobile operator in Cote d’Ivoire.

According to a statement from LAP Green, the firm has been shortlisted to buy a 75% stake in Zambia’s sole fixed line operator, Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel).

Four Listed For Zamtel Acquistion

Four bidders have been shortlisted to take a 75% stake in the state-owned telco, Zamtel. The bidders who shall proceed to the next round are India's BSNL, Libya's LAP Greencom, Unitel /Angola Cables of Angola and Russia's Altimo Holdings/VimpelCom.

The ZDA Board at meeting held on January 11, 2009 approved the recommended shortlist after detailed analysis conducted by an Evaluation Committee.

Commenting on the shortlist at a press briefing to announce the successful bidders, Mr. Muhabi Lungu, Acting Director General of the ZDA said he was happy with all four participants who have gone through to the next stage of the process. "The bids submitted were compelling, and set the stage for an exciting next phase," he added.

The four bidders will now be invited to participate in the next round of bidding, which is expected to begin during the week commencing 18 January, 2010. At the begining of this phase shortlisted bidders will be given details of the requirements and timing for the next phase of the process. Details of the bids will not be disclosed at this stage as doing so would prejudice future phases of the privatisation process.