THE MTN Group is looking for investments opportunities in the Zimbabwean telecoms market after a failed bid to purchase a 49 percent stake in state-owned NetOne in 2010, the Financial Gazette reported.
The plan collapsed after some members of the then-inclusive government opposed its privatisation. In the late 1990s, MTN had tried to acquire a 51 percent stake in the network for USD 30 million.
Sources said MTN dispatched top-level executives to Harare two weeks ago to investigate the market for possible opportunities.
Details of the discussions were not immediately available, but those aware of the developments said the firm’s officials met authorities at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
MTN’s latest move comes as the government was reported on 23 February to have cancelled the operating licence of Telecel Zimbabwe, after it failed to pay for its licence.
The government is said to be planning to buy out the network from its shareholders, but had indicated that it will not discontinue the network’s operations.Advertisement