Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi has halted the sale of a 49 percent stake in state-owned Telkom Kenya to private investors, saying bids received so far were too low, local newspapers reported Thursday. "We will not sell Telkom at a throwaway price," Moi said during a public function in Nairobi on Wednesday.
Six international bidders had initially expressed interest in acquiring the 49 percent shareholding, but four of them, including British Telecom, later pulled out, leaving only Orascom of Egypt and MTN of South Africa to compete. The successful bidder was to have been announced last week.
The privatization of Kenya's inefficient telecoms sector was among the conditions set by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for continued funding. British mobile phone group Vodafone AirTouch in June acquired a 40-percent stake in Safaricom Ltd, one of two cellular phone service providers in Kenya. Telkom Kenya retained 60 percent shareholding in Safaricom. — (AFP, Nairobi)
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
