3 Nigerian Banks [Access Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and Zenith Bank] are set to take over telecoms Company Etisalat.
The takeover is as a result of debts incurred over the years by Etisalat.
According to techpointdotng, Etisalat obtained loans — amounting to $1.72 billion — from a consortium of foreign and Nigerian banks in 2015 to facilitate reconstruction and expansion of Etisalat’s network operations here in Nigeria.
The banks involved wwhich include Zenith Bank , GT Bank, First Bank, UBA , Fidelity Bank, Access Bank, Ecobank, FCMB, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Union Bank, claimed to be under pressure from the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) to reclaim the loan by all means.
Despite best efforts by the regulatory body for telecoms in Nigeria, Nigerian Communications Commission [NCC], interacting with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to see that the banks would not have the right to take over, he approval occurred on Tuesday with the take over scheduled for Wednesday.
According to an anonymous Etisalat official, the current recession in the country is a key factor as to why the loans haven’t been paid back.
Etisalat Nigeria is a subsidiary of Etisalat, a multinational United Arab Emirate-based telecommunications services provider, which operates in about seventeen countries, in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
There are certain rights that parent companies have over their subsidiary companies, and before a takeover can ensue, these rights will have to be examined.
However, with this takeover, it may seem that Etisalat Nigeria is no longer under the protection of her parent company in the UAE. The question now is, what will be the fate of the employees and subscribers with this acquisition?
