Four telecoms risk losing their licence after failing to meet listing deadline.
Bharti Airtel, the second largest telco by market share in Tanzania, was the only one of five firms yet to comply with the law requiring telecoms to list on the Dar bourse that rushed to do so hours to the deadline.
Charles Shirima, the Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA) public relations manager, told The EastAfrican that the Airtel officials submitted to the regulator their draft prospectus at about 2.20pm on Friday, about two hours to the close of business.
According to the Electronic and Postal Communications Act (Epoca), all telecoms operating in Tanzania are required to list 25 per cent of their shares on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) by December 31. However, CMSA does not operate over weekends, hence the deadline moving to Friday, December 30.
Vodacom, that holds the largest market share, and Tigo had already submitted their listing prospectus by Wednesday this week.
Among the firms that risk their licences being revoke for failure to comply with the law is government-owned Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL), Zantel, Viettel trading as Halotel, and Benson Informatics (Smart).
In 2010, Tanzania enacted two legislations that demanded investors in the telecommunications and mining sectors to list at the DSE; namely the Epoca and the mining Act.
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