BEVERLY HILLS March 07, (THEWILL) – A consortium of some Nigerian banks are reportedly set to take over Etisalat Nigeria today Wednesday despite efforts by the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, to broker a peaceful resolution between the telecoms firm and the banks over a N541.8bn debt.
The consortium including Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank have been having a running battle with the mobile telephone operator over a loan facility totalling $1.72 billion (about N541.8 billion) obtained in 2015, Premium Times reports.
The loan, which involved a foreign-backed guaranty bond, was for Etisalat to finance a major network rehabilitation and expansion of its operational base in Nigeria.
But owing to the company’s failure to meet its debt servicing schedule agreed since last year, the three Nigerian banks, prodded by their foreign partners, reported Etisalat to the banking sector regulator, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and its communications sector counterpart, the NCC.
While Etisalat blamed its inability to fulfil its obligation to the banks on the current economic recession in Nigeria, the banks said their attempt to recover the loan by all means was fuelled by the pressure from the Asset Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON, demanding immediate cut down on the rate of their non-performing loans.
Speaking with the website late on Tuesday, a senior official of one of the banks said one of the options they have proposed to Etisalat management as a middle way out of the crisis was for it to request for a bankruptcy status.
The official, who was said to have pleaded anonymity since he was not authorised to speak on behalf of the consortium, said the bankruptcy option would require having receivership management appointed by the banks to oversee its operations.
An official at the NCC with knowledge of the development confirmed the takeover to THEWILL Wednesday.
A senior official at Etisalat, Nigeria’s 4th largest telecommunications firm with about 21 million subscribers, confirmed that the company has been in talks with the creditor banks for a while over restructuring the loan and they hope they can have it paid back in naira.
Emirates Telecommunications, EMT Group trading as Etisalat, own a 40 per cent stake in its Nigerian affiliate.
Ibrahim Dikko, Vice President for Regulatory Affairs at Etisalat Nigeria, however said the banks have not taken over the company. “We are hoping that we can resolve the issue and find a way to renegotiate terms, ” he said.
