Fixed telecommunications network
operator TelOne’s US$383 million legacy loans is get in the way of company’s
ability to operate efficiently. The Government
has agreed to take over the legacy loans after Cabinet gave its thumbs-up.
“We have been made aware that
Cabinet passed a resolution to waiver our legacy loans, and we are currently in
the process of engaging the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development in
terms of finalising the transaction,” managing director Chipo Mtasa told the
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Information Communication Technology.
The most of the legacy loans date
back to the era of Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (PTC).
TelOne owes a number of lenders
namely Eksportfinas of Norway (US$13,8 million); Eximbank of Japan (Sumitomo
II) (US$9,5 million); BNP of France (US$36,2 million); Tunisia-based African
Development Bank (US$89,9 million); Overseas Economic Co-operation Fund (OECF)
JBIC III of Japan (US$152,4 million) and Kredittanstalt Fur Wiederaufbau (KFW
11A) of Germany (US$12,6 million).
For instance, the principal loan
from Eksportfinas was $1,664,070. Its interest rate was 8 percent.
However, due to an 11 percent
penalty, the debt has ballooned to $13,8 million.
Government has set May 2019 as
deadline for privatising TelOne.
