South African-based Vodacom said on Monday that it was still interested in pursuing business opportunities in Nigeria, and planned on evaluating other opportunities in Africa.
Vodacom is a pan-African mobile group providing GSM services to more than 13-million customers in South Africa, Tanzania, Lesotho and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The group is 50%-held by dual-listed Telkom, 35%-held by global Vodafone and VenFin owns a 15% stake.
The group pulled out of Nigeria in June, citing issues of corporate governance and trust.
Vodacom had a five-year contract to run the cellular network, owned by VEE Networks, and has now recovered all the costs incurred during its stint in the country.
CEO Alan Knott-Craig told journalists, analysts and the investment community that: “The Nigerian government did take it seriously that we made an exit. There has been a significant clean-up since then. We’ll go back if the time is right, when the time is right, possibly in the next six months or else we’ll come from behind.”
Knott-Craig said that while the group was evaluating other opportunities on the continent, exploring other markets will depend on how the group performs in Nigeria.
“If we see the Nigerian thing through, then we’ll start dealing with other African opportunities,” he added. – I-Net Bridge