A local media report on the withdrawal of the fund from Nigeria Telecom is out of the question and there are several proposals under discussion to resolve its debt problems caused by the devaluation of the Nigerian currency, said Brian Lott, a spokesman for the Mubadala Investment Fund of the Abu Dhabi government. According to Reuters.
Ibrahim Deco, vice president of regulatory affairs at Nigeria Telecom, said talks with lenders had reached an advanced stage and he expected an agreement next week.
Sources said that Nigeria Telecom had offered creditor banks to acquire shares in the company and requested the conversion of the dollar tranche from the loan to Al-Nira, which was rejected by the banks, which asked the parent company to inject more liquidity.
Etisalat of Nigeria, the unit of Etisalat of the UAE, said it was in talks to restructure a $ 1.2 billion loan after default, but sources said talks had reached a dead end on April 28.
Etisalat had met with lenders in London on April 28 under the leadership of Granti Bank, but there was no agreement.
The company signed a seven-year medium-term credit facility with 13 local banks in 2013 to refinance a $ 650 million loan and finance the expansion of its network.
Emirates Telecom Group owns Etisalat International Nigeria Limited.
Etisalat has 20 million subscribers, making it the fourth largest mobile operator in Nigeria with a market share of 14%.
In South Africa, MTN's share is 47%, Globacom 20% and Airtel, an Indian Airtel unit, 19%.
