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Malawi has short listed 15 international firms to buy a 30 percent stake in the state-run telecommunications company, a privatisation commission official said on Wednesday. Maziko Sauti-Phiri told AFP that final bids from 15 out of 20 initial bidders for equity in the Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) were expected to be received by the end of April. The company will choose one strategic partner by May.
Among the pre-qualifying bidders are Germanys Detecon Gmbh, Dutch firm Mobile Systems International, Telkom SA of South Africa, Telecom Consultants India, Telecom Malaysia, Telcom Mauritius and financial investors Old Mutual. “We want to increase efficiency, and the proceeds from the sale of the 30 percent equity will accrue to the Malawi government for use in priority areas,” Sauti-Phiri said. He said the government is unable, on its own, to improve telecommunications in Malawi, which has only 40,000 fixed telephone lines for a population of 10 million people. Only 4,000 phone lines are in rural areas, where 80 percent of Malawians live.
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