Maravi

(LUSAKATIMES, REUTERS) Zambia: The PF government will renationalise ZAMTEL-Michael Sata

COMMENT - " Oliver Saasa told Reuters renationalising Zamtel would scare away other investors " GOOD. These assets belong to the people of Zambia. They were not built so chancing politicians could make pocket money by selling them to the lowest bidder. " What has been done within the laws of the land should not be changed with every change of government " Well then the government should not make backroom deals that sell out the national interest. Instead, they should build concensus by discussion every single privatisation in parliament and in the media. When were the public discussions on the Development Agreements held? Never. They were even secret documents that were only recently made available to the public. And for good reason - they were completely unacceptable, and have cost the country billions of dollars. And now ZAMTEL could end up being owned by Libya?

Zambia: The PF government will renationalise ZAMTEL-Michael Sata
PF Leader Michael Sata

Reuters reports that Zambia’s main opposition leader on Thursday said his party would renationalise Zambia’s fixed line operator, Zamtel, if elected in 2011, because the decision to privatize the company is not in the best interest of the country.

India’s Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd , Angola’s Unitel and Libya’s LAP Green Networks on Wednesday submitted bids to acquire between 51 and 75 percent of the stake in Zamtel.

However Patriotic Front (PF) party president Michael Sata said the sale of Zamtel was unacceptable because apart from it being a strategic organization, the new majority stake owners were likely to close the rural branches and concentrate on urban areas.

“Those bidding for Zamtel are doing so at owner’s risk. The PF in government will reverse the decision to privatise Zamtel. Even if it is sold we will renationalise it,” Sata told Reuters in an interview.

Sata said parliament would decide the conditions of Zamtel renationalisation.

Independent analyst Oliver Saasa told Reuters renationalising Zamtel would scare away other investors and was not in the best interest of the country because the sale was legally binding.

Zamtel’s revenue for the year to end-December was $100 million. It is Zambia’s only licensed fixed-line provider of voice and data communications and has performed poorly despite its monopoly rights.

Sata said Zamtel had performed badly because the government owed it a lot of money.

“If the government paid all the Zamtel bills, Zamtel would be very viable. The government owes Zamtel trillions of kwacha and that is what has created problems,” Sata said.

The Zamtel sale has been criticised by opposition politicians and trade unions, who say Zambians should hold a bigger stake in the company.

Nigerian fixed-line operator Nitel is also currently being privatised, while in April, Mali’s government rejected a bid for state-owned Sotelma.

Independent analyst Oliver Saasa told Reuters renationalising Zamtel would scare away other investors and was not in the best interest of the country because the sale was legally binding.

“What has been done within the laws of the land should not be changed with every change of government because it will send very wrong signals to other investors,” Saasa said.

“The PF leader should suggest other measures that will ensure that the interests of Zambians are protected after the sale of the company instead of suggesting renationalisation.”

[Reuters]

Labels: NATIONALISATION, OLIVER SAASA, PRIVATISATION, SATA, ZAMTEL

posted by MrK @ 5:22 PM