adminit would require the company to first transfer its controlling stake to locals. Apart from losing sleep over the staggering US$137 million required for licence renewal; this time for a 20-year tenure, Telecel is also grappling with addressing its lopsided shareholding to ensure locals assume a controlling interest.
Telecel Zimbabwe is owned 60 percent by Telecel Global, now part of Russian Telecommunications group Vimpelcom, which last year bought into Telecel Global’s Egyptian shareholders, Orascom. The 40 percent balance is held by an indigenous entity, Empowerment Corporation.
Transport, Communications and Infrastructural Development Minister Nicholas Goche, whose ministry oversees telecoms operations, recently said the company’s cellular operator’s licence will not be renewed until it has rectified the shareholding anomaly.
In an e-mailed response to questions from Herald Business, Telecel Zimbabwe said its shareholders had indicated several initiatives were underway, including discussions with the parent ministry, to have the sticking issues resolved.
“Our shareholders have advised us that there are several initiatives underway and several meetings have been held over the most recent past with the relevant authorities including the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Infrastructural Development,” Telecel communications and brand director Mr Obert Mandimika said yesterday.
It was not clear if the firm had fully complied with regulatory requirements considering that its licence has expired having successfully contested its cancellation by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe back in 2007 over its shareholding structure anomaly.
Potraz indicated yesterday that the Telecel shareholding and licence issues were now policy matters that only the parent ministry could handle.
Efforts to get a comment from Minister Goche or his permanent secretary Mr Munyaradzi Munodawafa were fruitless until the time of going to print yesterday.
But Telecel insisted that it continued to meet all operational requirements and still operated as usual while the renewal process was underway.
“Telecel continues to meet all requirements and continues to operate as usual. The process for renewal of Telecel’s licence is underway and we expect this matter to be completed soon,” Mr Mandimika said.
However, the response from the company’s local management did not explain why the company had failed to address the skewed shareholding structure for the past 15 years.
The licence, which was in 1998 given to a number of different groups under an empowerment initiative by Government, was revoked by Potraz in 2007, but the firm was allowed to continue operating after appealing to the relevant ministry.
Online Reporter