Zimbabwe shuts mobile phone firm over black empowerment
Zimbabwe on Wednesday shut down the country's second largest
mobile phone service provider, Telecel Zimbabwe, partly for breaching black
empowerment laws, officials said.
International telecom firm VimpelCom, based in the
Netherlands, has a 60 percent stake in Telecel Zimbabwe, making it the major
shareholder, reports AFP.
Zimbabwe's indigenisation law compels foreign companies to
cede majority shares to local partners.
"The Telecel Zimbabwe licence has been cancelled...
with effect from 28 April 2015," the Postal and Telecommunications
Regulatory Authority, POTRAZ, said in a statement.
POTRAZ did not give reasons for the move, but Information
and Communication Technology Minister Supa Mandiwanzira warned last month of
Telecel's impending closure for a breach of the black empowerment law and
failing to pay a licence fee.
"Our position that Telecel has been operating without a
licence and failed to honour local empowerment laws is the same position that
has been adopted by Cabinet," Mandiwanzira said.
To minimise the inconvenience to Telecel's two million
subscribers, POTRAZ said it had issued a special 30-day licence to enable
Telecel to wrap up its business.
"During this period, it is expected that Telecel
Zimbabwe subscribers switch to alternative networks," the authority said.
"A further 60 days has been given to Telecel Zimbabwe
to decommission their telecommunication equipment," it added.
The International Monetary Fund has urged Zimbabwe to review
its "indigenisation" policy, which has scared off much-needed
investment in the country's moribund economy.
Zimbabwe's economy has been on a downturn for more than a
decade since veteran President Robert Mugabe's government oversaw the violent
eviction of white farmers under controversial land reforms.
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