Russia’s VimpelCom has invited bids from regional and international investors interested in buying its stake in mobile phone operator Telecel Zimbabwe.

The winner of the bid to buy the 60 percent controlling stake in Telecel Zimbabwe is expected to be announced before the end of the month. The rest of the company is owned by a Zimbabwean consortium called the Empowerment Corporation.

VimpelCom has already sold its businesses in war-torn Central African Republic and Burundi to South-Africa based Econet Wireless.

The company has over the years been in conflict with the Zimbabwean government over the country’s so-called indigenization law, aimed at bringing more black Zimbabweans into business. The law requires foreign companies to cede 51 percent ownership in their Africa holdings to black Zimbabweans. Some foreign-owned companies have resisted complying with the law.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here