(Ecofin Agency) - It seems that the Mozambican government has abandoned the idea of releasing its 26% shares in the mobile telephone operator Mozambique Cellular (MCEL). The company is part of a group of companies from which the state was planning to exit, for lack of strategic nature because they were not part of its yearly and 5-year plans, or because the shares were too small. The option finally chosen for MCEL by the state is the recapitalisation.
The mobile telephone operator is currently facing financial difficulties. According to the Mozambican daily Notícias, MCEL which the state holds through the Telecomunicações de Moçambique (TDM) company and IGEPE, the structure managing the shares of the state, should come up in the next few days with a short term business plan and multi-option investment program. These elements should enable the mobile company to put an end to the crise it is going through and to regain a place of choice on the national telecom market.
During the visit to MCEL on 17 August 2015, with Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário, the minister of Transport and Communications, Carlos Mesquita stressed that "MCEL has honoured all its financial obligations despite the difficulties we know it is facing".