Utl to sort troubles in two months, says Libyan Foreign Affairs minister

Libya Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammed Dayri (L) with Ambassador to Uganda Fawzi B. M. Bouketf (R) after addressing journalists at the embassy in Kampala June 30, 2015.PHOTO BY STEPHEN WANDERA

What you need to know:

Reigniting it. The Libyan government hopes to revamp Utl among other things.

Kampala. Within two months, Uganda Telecom (Utl) would have found a solution to its growing troubles, a senior Libyan cabinet minister has said.
It further emerged that to get over its trouble, it will have to raise about $150 million (nearly Shs500 billion) which will have to be injected into Utl and other Libyan investments here.

According to the Libyan foreign affairs and International Cooperation minister, Mr Mohammed Dayri, the next two months will see a rigorous assessment of Utl before being revamped by the majority shareholder, the Libyan government.

In an interview on Tuesday at the Libyan Embassy in Kampala, Mr Dayri said after a series of discussions with the minister of Finance (Mr Matia Kasaija), privatisation (Mr Aston Kajara) and investment (Mr Gabriel Ajedra), regarding the future of Utl, a decision to re-examine the telecom company by the majority shareholders within the next two months in Libya was agreed.
“We have issues with all our investments here but for now, Utl is our most urgent problem and we need to sort it. We have agreed to take two months to address Utl challenges so that it can be competitive,”Mr Dayri said.

He continued: “We have plans to salvage and sustain our businesses here and government here is interested in that because it has some shares in the company.”
This newspaper has also learnt that the telecommunication company has in recent years not been adequately financed and as a result, it couldn’t keep up the tempo in terms of proper equipment (technology), innovations and dealing with the demand side of the business.
Uganda Telecommunications Commission recent audit report put Utl on notice, on the grounds that it is at the verge of financial collapse with a Shs366 billion liability which exceeds its total asset base of Shs220 billion.

Investments
According to the Libyan Ambassador to Uganda, Mr Fawzi Bouketf, between 2010 to date, Libya has invested nearly $72m (Shs240b) into its investment while overall—including in its other investments, it has injected $500m (1.6 trillion) through its multi-billion dollar investment arm, the Libyan Africa Investment Portfolio.