Rwandatel was a

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

company with its headquarters in

Kigali, Rwanda Kigali () is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwanda's economic, cu ...

History

Rwandatel was founded in 1993 as a government

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

to provide

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits 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 efficiently the human voice, into e ...

and

internet services An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

, including local telephony and long-distance service. In 2006, American born

Greg Wyler Gregory Thane Wyler (born 12 November 1969) is an American tech entrepreneur, engineer, and inventor. He was the founder and executive chairman of OneWeb and the founder of O3b Networks. Business ventures Wyler spent four years developing tel ...

, 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 (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

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 Uganda Telecom, whose full legal name is Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL), is an information and communication technology network company in Uganda owned by the government of Uganda and currently under receivership due to large debts of about USh 700 ...

. Due to the Libyan conflict of 2011, the government of Rwanda complied with

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

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 Global Ltd, 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 ...

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