Tigo Tanzania is in the final stages of wholly acquiring Zanzibar Telecom. PHOTO | NMG
Tanzania's second largest telecommunications operator is in the
final stages of wholly acquiring Zanzibar Telecom (Zantel) from the
United Arab Emirates’ Etisalat Group, coming barely three-and-a-half
years after it bought the majority stake (85 per cent) in the telco.
Millicom
International Cellular, which trades as Tigo, has written to the
country’s competition watchdog, the Fair Competition Commission
requesting regulatory approvals for it to acquire the entire shares of
Zantel and its subsidiary, Telesis Tanzania Ltd, which provides 4G
telecommunications network capacity and coverage to operators.
“FCC
is investigating the intended acquisitions… parties (both legal and
natural) who deem themselves as having sufficient interest in these
mergers… shall file and register such interest(s) or information by way
of written submissions to the FCC within 14 days,” the agency said in
its January notice.
If approved, Tigo will be fighting
for the top spot with Tanzania’s largest telecom operator, Vodacom as it
will narrow down the subscribers number to a difference of under
200,000.
As at mid last year, Zantel had 1.07 million
subscribers while Tigo had 12 million, so this merger would bring the
total to 13.07 million. Vodacom has 13.27 million subscribers.
When
it bought the majority stake, Tigo had said it would not change
Zantel’s name, allowing it to trade under the Zantel brand, but this is
bound to change after it buys out the Zanzibar government’s stake in the
telecom.
This merger will further solidify competition among
telecommunication players in Tanzania where seven players are scrambling
for the country’s 41.8 million voice subscribers and 20.8 million
mobile money users.
In December, Tigo said it was
moving closer to listing on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange after
finalising the legal requirements for an initial public offering. The
telecommunications firm said it would list “soon” to comply with the
Electronic and Postal Act of 2010, which requires telcos to list 25 per
cent of their shares on the bourse.
“We have completed legal conversion from a private limited company to a public limited company,” it said in a statement.
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