By ChinyereAruogu
The failure of Etisalat to liquidate its N541.8 billion indebtedness to a consortium of foreign and local banks including Zenith, GTB and Assess may have put the survival of the communication outfit in jeopardy. The banks want a takeover of the running of the affairs of Etisalat by receivers as urgently as possible.
The consortium of foreign and Nigerian banks, including Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, and Zenith Bank, have been having a running battle with the mobile telephone operator over a loan of $1.72 billion (about N541.8 billion) collected in 2015.
What makes Etisalat’s case worse was the failure of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to broker a deal, peaceful enough between the banks and the telecommunication.
The NCC waded to save Etisalat because it believes the company is viable and still a going concern, and in a position to renegotiate its indebtedness. But the proposal of the NCC did not go down well with the consortium of banks which was working hard to get NCC’s approval for the takeover.
Armadanews got it on good authority that the banks resolved on Wednesday, March 8 to wade in to recover their money in view of the biting economic recession affecting their own businesses.
How the consortium of banks want to go about recovering their money is yet to be communicated publicly because AMCON said they are not on the radar yet.
Sources said the banks are proposing the option of bankruptcy status to Etisalat so that receiverswould be appointed by the banks to oversee its workings.
The loan, which involved a foreign-backed guaranty bond, was for Etisalat to finance a major network rehabilitation and expansion of its operational base in Nigeria.
However, following the failure of the company to meet its debt servicing schedule agreed since 2016, the three Nigerian banks, prodded by their foreign partners, reported Etisalat to banking sector regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and its communications sector counterpart, the NCC.
Although Etisalat blamed its inability to fulfill its obligation to the banks on the current economic recession in Nigeria, the banks said their attempt to recover the loan, by all means, was fuelled by the pressure from the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) demanding immediate cut down on the rate of their non-performing loans.
Etisalat has more than 20 million subscriber base as at January this year. It came into operation in 2009 and retains the status of the fourth largest telecom provider by the rating of NCC.