The Libyan government plans to sell up to 40% stakes in the country’s two mobile phone networks, Libyana and Al-Madar, according to the head of the Libyan Stock Exchange.
In an interview with Bloomberg, the stock exchange chief said that the state would…
The Libyan government plans to sell up to 40% stakes in the country’s two mobile phone networks, Libyana and Al-Madar, according to the head of the Libyan Stock Exchange.
In an interview with Bloomberg, the stock exchange chief said that the state would list 5% stakes in both operators through initial public offerings before the end of 2010.
“This is just the first phase,” he said. “It could reach 30% or 40% after some time.”
However, international telcos hoping to gain access to the last closed Arab market may have to wait much longer than the end of this year before the Libyan government allows foreign investors to hold stakes in either company.
Libyan leaders, including Muammar al-Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam, have repeatedly promised to privatise Libyana and Al-Madar without actually doing anything.
Neither Libyana or Al-Madar publish any financial information, a problem that would make valuing either company impossible.
Libya lacks a telecoms regulator so there is also no obligation on its mobile operators to disclose how many customers they have.
Wireless Intelligence, the data gathering arm of the GSM Association, estimates that Libyana had 6.9 million customers at the end of 2009 and Al-Madar 3.1 million giving the country a penetration rate of 162%.
Joss Gillet, a senior analyst at Wireless Intelligence, says that these figures “include prepaid SIM cards which are often inactive”.
In March, the UK’s Vodafone signed a marketing agreement with Al-Madar enabling it to sell its own services and phones using Al-Madar’s network to international companies operating in Libya.
