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| Business |
| Telekom Malaysia pulls out of TNM |
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by
Tadala Makata Kakwesa, 06 January 2005
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11:46:29
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Telekom Malaysia has withdrawn its 60 per cent shares from the country’s cell phone company, Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM).
The move leaves Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) which has 40 per cent shares as the only proprietor of the company.
MTL board chairman Kalekeni Kaphale confirmed the development in an interview and said the issue of the withdrawal started long time ago during the previous administration.
Kaphale said Telecom Malaysia offered to sell its shares to MTL but just after taking over, the new government brought the deal to a halt.
“As MTL, which is a government entity, we thought that was our golden opportunity to solely own a cell phone company but it was unfortunate that the new government refused,” he said.
Kaphale said Telecom Malaysia offered to sell its shares to MTL at a reasonable amount and this, he said, would have meant that the money owed to TNM by the company, which amounts to about K431 million would have been paid by half.
When asked why Telekom Malaysia has decided to close up its business from Malawi, he expressed ignorance but said the move would have a negative impact on the country’s cell phone business.
Minister of Information Ken Lipenga said government received an official communication about the company’s withdrawal, which he said indicated the company has decided to shut down its business from this part of Africa.
“What I know is that the company has made a strategic decision to pull out from this part of Africa and an official communication was made to the government and other companies involved,” said Lipenga.
He quashed aside allegations that Telekom Malaysia has closed due to lack of business.
But a source disclosed in an interview that Telekom Malaysia wrote to TNM board of directors that its business was going down due to low subscription with the company and instead diverting to “another cell phone company”.
The source also said the letter indicated that Telecom Malaysia has failed to sustain its business due to a big financial debt MTL owes TNM.
TNM director of marketing Charles Kamoto in an interview Wednesday said much as he is aware of the pull out, management “would rather remain silent and not comment on the matter”.
He said Telekom Malaysia was responsible for the cell phone expertise while MTL was looking at provision of ground lines, cables, other machines.
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