Leading telecom company, Lap Green has denied reports that it was selling off its Ugandan and Rwandan operations to Vodacom. The Libyan owned company has major stakes in Uganda Telecom and Rwandatel respectively. Speaking on phone to The New Times, Lap Green Managing Director Abdulbaset Elazzabi expressed surprise at the media reports. “That information isn’t true at all because if we (Lap Green) had some thing big like that, I would have known about it,” Elazzabi said. “We are expanding our operations. As I talk to you now, I am in Abuja where we intend to have a new network”. Victor Kinuma, the Rwandatel marketing manager, also said it was news to him.
“Lap Green has the capacity to invest and improve the network operations. It just can’t sell its newly purchased operations”. Kinuma added that in a bid to expand their operations in the country, Rwandatel and Huawei Technologies, a global leader in providing the next generation telecommunication network signed a $35 million (Frw19 billion) expansion contract. The agreement paves way for Rwandatel to start offering mobile phone services which had long been monopolised by MTN Rwanda. “With this contract, Rwandatel will be able to rollout the new infrastructure that will support its GSM and 3G UMTS network services countrywide,” Kinuma said. Rwandatel also announced that a $40 million (Frw22 billion) contract would soon be signed with a firm they did not want to name. If concluded, the deal will see Rwandatel grow into a highly profitable and socially responsible firm. According to news published by the media agency, Balancing act-Africa, Vodacom is close to signing a deal with Libyan-owned Lap Green to take over its recently purchased operations in Rwanda and Uganda. A draft of the agreement clearly indicates that Vodacom would take over a majority stake and have technical control, whilst Lap Green would remain a significant minority shareholder.
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