Business
Nigeria’s Teleology Holdings to buy Uganda Telecom for $71 million
The Uganda government has agreed to sell Uganda Telecom (UTL) to Nigerian firm Teleology Holdings, after 7 bidders competed to buy the state-owned enterprise, reports the Monitor daily newspaper.
The decision followed a 24 September presentation to Cabinet of a financial capability report by an ad hoc committee after State Investment minister Evelyn Anite, the overseer of the UTL sale, claimed that Taleology had no technical expertise or financial muscle to run a telecom business. Her choice, the State-founded Mauritius Telecom, was ranked 2nd best.
Other competitors, such as Safaricom Kenya’s subsidiary Afrinet and Hamilton, dropped out prematurely.
Highly-placed sources said Teleology offered Ush 268 billion (US$71 million) against Mauritius Telecom’s Ush 167 billion (US$45 million).
According to the daily, the decision for Teleology to take over and revamp the struggling operator polarized members of the Cabinet. Four ministers who attended the decisive 01 October meeting separately spoke with the daily.
Source: Telecom Paper