Tanzania Cuts The Grass Under Airtel’s Feet; Disapproves Of Its Africa IPO Plan 

The Tanzanian government has refused to grant recognition to Airtel Africa’s IPO and has also claimed a part of the company’s unit operating in the African country, reports Mint. This could deal a blow to Airtel’s plans to publicly list the company and use the proceeds from the stake sale to fund further expansion.

“It’s not legitimate for Bharti Airtel to undertake any affiliate consultations of our Airtel Tanzania company by advertising it publicly without obtaining the consent of a partner who is the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania,” Athumani S Mbuttuka, treasury registrar, Tanzania, mentioned in a statement.

The statement also noted that the ownership of Airtel’s unit in Tanzania was in question and it will depend on negotiations between the company and the government of the country.

Recent media reports have stated that Airtel Africa has completed the pre-IPO placement of shares, amounting to $1.25 billion, to six marquee global investors like Warburg Pincus and Softbank. Airtel’s Africa operations have been on an upswing this year, and it reported profits of Rs 232.3 crore. Last year, it had losses amounting to Rs 207.9 crore. The revenues were up 13 per cent.