The Nigerian government has pre-selected two consortiums for the privatisation of its struggling telco Nitel and mobile arm M-Tel.
Natcom Consortium and Nectar Consortium both topped the list of expected requirements and can now submit their offers,…
The Nigerian government has pre-selected two consortiums for the privatisation of its struggling telco Nitel and mobile arm M-Tel.
Natcom Consortium and Nectar Consortium both topped the list of expected requirements and can now submit their offers, according to local newspaper the Daily Times citing mines and steel minister Musa Sada.
A total of 17 bidders expressed interest in the assets by the 30 June deadline. A few weeks prior, the government-appointed liquidator had launched a new privatisation process in a further attempt to turn it around.
According to an advert published by the liquidator in June, interested bidders must have at least five years of telecoms experience and a net worth of more than US$200m.
No information has been disclosed on Natcom and Nectar, and the country’s Bureau of Public Enterprises could not be reached for comments.
In April 2010, a Natcom consortium was created between Vietnamese telco Viettel and the Bank of the Republic of Haiti to launch services on the island.
Viettel, which is already present in Mozambique and has a licence to operate in Cameroon, has been keen to expand in Africa and was most recently linked to a bid for Telkom Kenya.
The government made unsuccessful attempts to privatise Nitel, whose liabilities have been estimated at around NgN350bn (US$2.16bn), on several occasions over the past decade.
Analysys Mason principal Robert Schumann earlier questioned whether Nitel would still be able to attract “credible investors”.
