Tanzania: Airtel Dishes Out 33bn/ - to Govt

By Nelly Mtema in Dodoma

AIRTEL Tanzania yesterday paid a whopping sum of 32.9bn/- to the government as dividend and contribution towards support services.

According to the breakdown issued by the cellular provider, a total of 18.9bn/- was a special dividend

for the year ending December 2019, while 14bn/- was dished out as contribution towards support services for 2019/2020.

Airtel Tanzania Plc Board Chairman Mr Gabriel Malata presented the dummy cheques to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Mr Dotto James.

Speaking shortly after receiving the cheques, Mr James said the amount apart from being the highest from institutions where the government has minority interest it is the first dividend since 2007/08 when they lastly received 2.3bn/- portion from Airtel Tanzania Plc.

He recalled that the road to successful negotiations was not an easy task whereas a stronger stake in telecommunications company Airtel, raising its holding to 49 per cent from 40 per cent after resolving a dispute over ownership of one of largest mobile operators in the country.

"We have in principle agreed to move forward with a new arrangement of shareholding of 51:49 where Airtel drops from 60 per cent to 51 per cent and the people of Tanzania through the ownership of their government own 49 per cent," said the Finance and Planning Secretary General.

Mr James commended Airtel Tanzania Plc for honouring the terms of the agreement and paying the government its dividend.

"It's great that they have agreed to give dividends to the government, which for eight to 10 years we had not received and Airtel Tanzania Plc are effectively honouring the terms " he insisted.

Mr James used the occasion to express the government's commitment to increase performance as well as shares in its minority interest institutions to get the required sum without affecting performance of the companies.

Earlier, Airtel Tanzania Plc Board Chairman, Mr Malata outlined a number of achievements they have attained including setting up strong infrastructure for their members.

He said their customer base has grown from 11.4 million in March 2019 to 13.3 million by March 2020 as well as acquiring a 27 per cent market share of the industry as per statistics from the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA).

He added that Airtel Tanzania Plc has employed over 500 employees out of which only seven are foreigners.

"This demonstrates Airtel's will of investing and using our own human resources to offer important services to the people of Tanzania. In addition, over 350,000 indirect employment have been created in the country" said Mr Malata.

Moreover, he said, they have been supporting government initiatives in the health, education and commercial sectors.

He gave an example where the company contributed 2.3bn/- for the construction of Dodoma Hospital as well as partnered with the Vocation Education and Training Authority (VETA) to launch an online vocational training platform VSOMO.

Treasury Registrar, Mr Athumani Mbuttuka said: "'This is the first time that Airtel Tanzania Plc is paying dividend to the government since the takeover. However, it comes as a surprise as it has surpassed all other institutions and set a record as the highest ever."