Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Discussions for renegotiation of terms of a $1.2 billion (about N378 billion) loan it took out four years ago after missing a payment have been initiated by the Nigerian affiliate of Abu Dhabi-listed telecoms company, Etisalat.
The firm is having series of meeting with about some Nigerian banks on this and it hopes an amiable agreement would be reached soon.
Yesterday, it was reported that three of the banks, GTBank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank were already in the process of taking over Etisalat Nigeria because of the debt.
The other banks involved in the issue are First Bank, UBA, Fidelity Bank, Ecobank, FCMB, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Union Bank.
Speaking on the matter with Reuters, Vice President for Regulatory Affairs at Etisalat Nigeria, Mr Ibrahim Dikko, stated that, “We are in discussions with our bankers and have been for quite a while.
“They have not taken over the business and we are hoping that we can resolve the issue and find a way to renegotiate terms.”
He explained that Etisalat missed payments due to the economic downturn in Nigeria, a currency devaluation and dollar shortages on the country’s interbank market.
Mr Dikko said the business performed well last year and it was still in profit at the level of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, while loan repayments had been up to date “until recently”.
He said further that the company was now looking at “all the options”, which could include converting the loan into Naira, but did not want to anticipate the outcome of talks with the lenders.
Emirates Telecommunications Group (Etisalat) owns a 40 percent stake in its Nigerian affiliate, which accounted for around 3.7 percent of the group’s revenue in 2013.
Etisalat Nigeria signed a $1.2 billion medium-term facility with 13 Nigerian banks in 2013, which it used to refinance an existing $650 million loan and fund a modernisation of its network.
