Andrew Kathindi
More than 16 years on, Telecom Namibia is still to recoup its millions invested in the failed Mundo Startel deal.
Telecom then led by Frans Ndoroma, announced in 2004 that it had acquired a 44 percent stake in Angola’s Mundo Startel worth US$14 million (N$91 million at the time), in a bid to break into the Angolan market.
The investment was a failure and in 2011 the company announced it was exiting the market and putting its 44 percent stake in Mundo Startel up for sale.
The remaining 56 percent of the Angolan telecommunication company were owned by private entities in Angola, with Mundo Telecommunications, Manuel Joao, Jembas Technical Assistance Lda, Banco Commercial Angolano, Carneiro and Nazare de Jesus Fransisco among, along with individuals.
Acting Chief Executive Officer Laban Hiwilepo told Windhoek Observer on Thursday that the process to re-claim part of its investment is still on going.
“Telecom has invested in the past in Angola, but Telecom has also announced that it is de-invested from the deal. There is a process to be followed and that is the process we’re following now. It’s not necessarily to get the money back, it’s maybe just to get what is remaining, and there is a process defined for that,” he said.
Quizzed on the estimated amount that company could recoup, Hiwilepo was tight-lipped, but a 2015 local report stated the company will be reimbursed US$3 million.
Telecom lost more than N$100 million between 2005 and 2012. These dismal returns compelled Telecom to seek an exit strategy from the Angolan business deal in 2011.
Ndoroma said at the time said, “While entering Angola was a good business case with good prospective short-term returns, that market has proven difficult politically, culturally, and logistically. Our business plan has not run according to its design – hence our decision to exit responsibly.”
The investment, however, was supposed to be a monumental first step in the Telecom Namibia having a significant footprint in the SADC region.
Meanwhile Hiwilepo also noted that the telecommunication competitive landscape in the country has intensified.
This comes as the City of Windhoek has been granted a telecommunication services license by the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) as part of its plans to introduce a ‘Smart’ City.
Quizzed on whether Telecom supported this move, the acting CEO said that while it fully supported the move idea behind Windhoek becoming a Smart City, “To do that, you don’t need a license, necessarily, you don’t need a network of your own. If you look at government-owned entities that are created for a specific mandate, not all of them have a license to play in the communication sector.”
He further added, “The City of Windhoek is created for a specific role. At the end of the day it calls for a way to relook at this to say, how do we structure it in a manner that is more conducive and more supportive and more leading to better use of financial resources, and not to have this cut-throat type of competition. And also, duplication of infrastructure, if that can be avoided that will be a good achievement for the country.”
Telecom, like MTC and Nampost are all 100 percent owned by the Government of Namibia through the Namibia Post & Telecom Holdings.
