Emerging markets telecommunications group Millicom, owner of Tigo-branded operations across Latin America and Africa, has confirmed agreements to sell its Tanzania and Ghana units as part of a multi-year plan to divest its African operations and focus on Latin America. In Tanzania, Millicom has agreed to sell its entire operation for an undisclosed sum to a consortium led by Axian, a Madagascar-based group that was part of the consortium that acquired Millicom’s operations in Senegal in 2018.
Millicom also said it has reached a final deal along with its joint venture partner Bharti Airtel to transfer its stake in Ghana’s AirtelTigo to the government of Ghana, for which it will take a USD 25 million charge. No other details of the agreements were disclosed by Millicom, with the group simply adding that the completion of each transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Separately, the Ghanaian government said its agreement transfers all customers, assets and agreed liabilities of AirtelTigo to government ownership. Minister for Communications and Digitalisation Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said the government considers this a positive step as it adds to the growing portfolio of digital infrastructure assets being utilised by the government.
The chief executive of the Miami-based Millicom, Mauricio Ramos, confirmed that the deals meant the group would be definitively pulling out of Africa to focus on Latin America. “With today’s announcement that we are divesting our remaining African businesses, we close a chapter in our history and open another solely focused on the Latin American region,” he said.
Millicom reported a 5.3 percent year on year decline in revenues to USD 1.03 billion in the final quarter of 2020, still impacted by Covid-19 but an improvement on falls of 6.5 percent and 8.0 percent in the previous two quarters.
Tigo Tanzania contributed some USD 366 million to Millicom’s revenues for 2020 as a whole, equivalent to around 5 percent of the group’s total. The divestment follows the sale of Millicom’s operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Chad and Senegal over the past four years.
