The current big news in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem is the announcement by Etisalat Group that it is transferring its shares in Etisalat Nigeria to a consortium of Nigerian banks following the operator’s inability to pay the USD1.2 billion syndicated loan it obtained from the banks in 2013. But there’s a tiny but very important detail missing, the deal cannot go through without the approval of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Last night, the commission revealed that the banks would have to deal with some regulatory issues before it could get the nod of the commission. Tony Ojobo, spokesman of the commission referred the banks to Section 38 and Sub section 1 of the Nigerian Communications Act of 2003: “The grant of a license shall be personal to the licensee and the license shall not be operated by, assigned, sub licensed or transferred to another party unless the prior written approval of the commission has been granted.”
also, Sub Section 2 of the same provision equally states that, “A licensee shall at all times comply by the terms and condition of the license and the provision of this act and its subsidiary legislation.”
Ojobo said the commission and the CBN held several meetings with the banks, Etisalat and other stakeholders to reach a resolution.
“Regrettably these meetings did not yield the desired results,” said Ojobo.
Whilst the banks and Etisalat are working at resolving the issues, NCC assured subscribers that they will continue to enjoy the services provided by Etisalat.
“In view of the recent development, NCC wishes to reassure all stakeholders in the telecommunications sector in particular the subscribers on the Etisalat Network that the Commission will ensure that the integrity of Etisalat Network is not compromised,” Ojobo added.
