Rwandatel was a

telephony Telephony ( ) is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunications services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is ...

company with its headquarters in Kigali, Rwanda.

History

Rwandatel was founded in 1993 as a government

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

to provide

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

and internet services, including local telephony and long-distance service. In 2006, American born Greg Wyler, took 99% control of Rwandatel through his communication firm Terracom. Due to financial constraints, the government of Rwanda held negotiations with Terracom's investors in June 2007 in order to establish the value of the company and organize a buy back of Rwandatel by the government. The agreed total purchase price was US$11.91 million, with the government acquiring 70%, while Caisse Sociale du Rwanda (now Rwanda Social Security Board) acquiring 30% of the venture. In September 2007,

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

n based investment firm, LAP (Libyan Investment Portfolio) Green, acquired 80% of Rwandatel for US$100 million and agreed to invest another $177 million over the following 5 years as well as agree to meet wireless voice and data roll-out goals. LAP Green's other investments included its 69% control of Uganda Telecom. Due to the Libyan conflict of 2011, the government of Rwanda complied with

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

resolutions requiring Libyan assets in the country to be frozen. This led to financial constraints on Rwandatel as it depended of financing from LAP Green. This led to Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) revoking the firm's license to provide mobile and 3G services on April 4, 2011. At this point the company was facing stiff competition from MTN Rwanda and Tigo Rwanda. In 2013, the assets of the insolvent Rwandatel were acquired by

Econet Wireless Econet, officially known as Econet Group, is a diversified telecommunications group with operations and investments in Africa, Europe, South America and the East Asia Pacific Rim, offering products and services in the core areas of Mobile te ...

through its subsidiary Liquid Telecom for US$4 million, a fraction of the LAP Green deal.

Ownership

As of the liquidation date, Rwandatel's shareholding structure was as follows:

References

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External links

Rwandatel
Telecommunications companies of Rwanda Organisations based in Kigali Economy of Kigali 1993 establishments in Rwanda Telecommunications companies established in 1993 Bankrupt mobile phone companies

History

Ownership

See also

References

External links