HiPipo Money

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• Gozour divests Confectioner RIS Assets in Sudan and Cheese Manufacturer El-Misrieen in Egypt.
• The sale is part of the Qalaa Holdings divesting and deleveraging program to return to profitability this year.

Gozour signs a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to divest RIS assets in Sudan and El-Misrieen in Egypt for enterprise values of $ 549, 142 and $ 6,385,370 respectively; transactions will result in the deconsolidation of a total $ 2,554,344 in debt from Gozour’s balance sheet as Qalaa continues to divest non-core units and focus on growth of proven winners

Qalaa Holdings (CCAP.CA on the Egyptian Exchange), an African leader in infrastructure and industry, announced  that RIS – a business unit of its agrifoods subsidiary Gozour – has signed a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) for the sale of its two Halawa and Biscuits plants in Sudan to a Sudanese investor at an enterprise value of  $ 4.3 million. Qalaa Holdings currently has an effective ownership of 55% in RIS.

Furthermore, Gozour has signed another SPA for the sale of Misr October for food industries (El-Misrieen), an Egyptian manufacturer of cheese products, to a domestic industrial investor at an enterprise value of $ 6,385,370. The acquirer will assume all debt, liabilities and obligations of El-Misrieen, including bank debt of $2,107,334 Qalaa had previously fully written-down the value of its investment in El-Misrieen, which ceased operations in 2012.

Qalaa Holdings continues to divest non-core investments across its footprint as it focuses on core business units including Egyptian Refining Company a $ 3.7 billion megaproject that is nearing the 75% completion mark and is on track to begin production in 2017 and TAQA Arabia (Egypt’s leading independent energy distribution company).

The company also remains watchful for opportunities to create new shareholder value through the acquisition of additional stakes in core subsidiaries and to engage in share buybacks for so long as Qalaa shares trade at a steep discount to their fair value.

Pharos Holding was sell-side advisor for the El-Misrieen transaction. 

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MTN Group has reviewed its operating structure with a view to strengthening operational oversight, leadership, governance and regulatory compliance across its 22 country operations in Africa and the Middle East.

To this end, the Group has resolved to re-implement its previous reporting structure. This will see MTN Group restructured into three regions – namely West and Central Africa  (“WECA”), South and East Africa (“SEA”),  and Middle East and North Africa (“MENA”).  MTN has also made a number of senior appointments to support this structure.

Effective 1 December 2015 Jyoti Desai assumed the new position of Group Chief Operating Officer (“COO”). Based in Johannesburg, she reports to the Executive Chairman, Phuthuma Nhleko. Ms Desai has 14 years’ experience at MTN. She has previously held the positions of Chief Information Officer at MTN Nigeria, was COO of MTN Irancell and was recently seconded to support the Nigerian country operations. Her replacement as Group Chief Technology and Information Officer will be announced soon.

Two regional Vice Presidents (“VP”) have been appointed, also reporting to the Executive Chairman. The VP for WECA is Karl Toriola, with Ismail Jaroudi the VP for MENA. The VP for SEA will be announced soon. 

Based in Nigeria, Mr. Toriola has been at MTN for 10 years, having held senior operational roles at MTN Group and MTN Iran. He was formerly also the Chief Technology Officer at MTN Nigeria and CEO at MTN Cameroon.

Mr Jaroudi has been CEO of MTN Syria since 2006. Prior to this he held senior operational roles for Investcom’s subsidiaries across the Middle East and North Africa.

Also reporting to the Executive Chairman is the new Group Executive for M&A, Matthew Odgers. The former head of TMT for Africa & the Middle East and head of investment banking for MENA at UBS, Mr Odgers led UBS’s overall relationship with MTN.

MTN Nigeria’s CEO Michael Ikpoki and the head of Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Akinwale Goodluck have tendered their resignations with immediate effect.  They are replaced by Ferdi Moolman as MTN Nigeria CEO and Amina Oyagbola as its head of Regulatory and Corporate Affairs. Mr Moolman was previously COO at MTN Irancell and most recently CFO at MTN Nigeria.   A Nigerian national, Ms Oyagbola also retains the position of MTN Nigeria’s Head of Human Resources. She formerly headed regulatory affairs at the Nigerian operating company.

The search for the MTN Group CEO is underway and remains a priority.

Commenting on the announcements, MTN Group Executive Chairman Phuthuma Nhleko said:  “This revised structure and strengthened leadership will improve operational oversight and increase management capacity. This will enable MTN to continue to realise its strategy and vision, while also ensuring we achieve high governance standards and robust risk mitigation.”

With the financial year closing on 31 December 2015, the MTN Group will report its FY2015 results in line with the former structure – namely for MTN Nigeria, MTN South Africa, Large Operating Companies and Small Operating Companies.

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Shareholders are advised that, after further engagements with the Nigerian Authorities, the NCC has reduced the imposed fine.

MTN has received a formal letter dated 2 December 2015 from the NCC informing the Company that, after considering the Company’s request, it has taken the decision to reduce the fine on the MTN Nigerian business from the original N1,040,000,000,000 (One Trillion, Forty Billion Naira) to N674 Billion Naira which has to be paid by 31 December 2015. The fine relates to the late disconnecting of 5.1 million MTN Nigerian subscribers in August and September 2015.

The Company is carefully considering the NCC’s reply, however the Executive Chairman Phuthuma Nhleko will immediately and urgently re-engage with the Nigerian Authorities before responding formally, as it is essential for the Company to follow due process to ensure the best outcome for the Company, its stakeholders and the Nigerian Authorities and accordingly all factors having a bearing on the situation will be thoroughly and carefully considered before the Company arrives at a final decision.

Shareholders are therefore advised to continue to exercise caution when dealing in the Company’s securities until a further announcement is made.

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MultiChoice Africa is further expanding its religion genre on DStv with the addition of Dove TV, the official television station of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). The channel will launch onThursday, 03 December 2015 on DStv channel 349.

Dove TV will broadcast wholesome family entertainment with high moral and ethical values that appeals to children, the youth and the elderly. It will also include live coverage of all the Holy Ghost Services, Annual Conventions and Holy Ghost Congress of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. Other ministrations of the General Overseer from countries around the world can also be watched from time to time, not to mention series of ministrations from anointed men of God.

Speaking on the latest development, Charles Hamya, MultiChoice Uganda General Manager says this channel launch is in line with the company’s efforts to provide a diversified range of content that will appeal to its different subscribers.

“We are pleased to have Dove TV join the DStv and MultiChoice family. We believe that this addition to our growing list of channels will enhance our subscribers’ viewing pleasure as well as expand our range of quality local content on our platform,” says Hamya

Dove TV will be available to DStv Premium, Compact Plus, Compact, Family and Access subscribers on DStv channel 349 fromThursday, 03 December 2015 at 11am CAT.

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Under the auspices of the ICT Clubs for Primary Schools initiative, the MTN Uganda Foundation today handed over 25 computers to 5 primary schools that are currently participating in the project.

The ICT Clubs for Primary Schools initiative is part of the MTN Uganda Foundation strategy that focuses on investment in education currently being implemented in Kampala with the objective of creating social and peer-to-peer learning of information technology solutions from the grass root of the educational structures.

“We hope to achieve quality education by setting up ICT clubs in primary schools, training learners and teachers and donating hardware and free internet connectivity  to the clubs. This will be followed by the setting up of a universal e-learning portal that will facilitate knowledge sharing amongst the schools,” said Anthony Katamba, MTN’s General Manager Corporate Services.

The project intended to cover the entire country, kicked off in Kampala covering five (5) selected schools which included; Kiswa Primary School, Nakasero Primary School, Buganda Road Primary School, Kitante Primary School and Bat Valley Primary School.

The schools were selected based on availability of a dedicated computer room, availability of electricity and internet connectivity and commitment of administration to the project sustainability.

Each of the schools has currently undergone ICT training for students and teachers through the MTN Internet Bus and internet connectivity has been setup for the respective schools.

The MTN Internet Bus spent one week at each school and delivered experiential introductory education on computers and the internet for the students and teachers.

MTN will also support the schools with free high speed internet access of up to 1Mbps for one year.

Today’s handover ceremony was hosted by the Executive Director of Kampala Capital City Authority, Ms. Jennifer Musisi.

She applauded MTN Uganda for today’s donation of computers to KCCA schools, adding that this extension of good will comes only days after MTN also identified KCCA as beneficiaries of the MTN Kampala Marathon.

“We are delighted to receive this generous contribution from MTN. It will go a long way in improving ICT education in our schools. I appeal to other corporate organizations to emulate MTN and support the community,” she said.

Officiating as Guest of Honor at today’s ceremony, the South African High Commissioner, who is also a trustee member of MTN Foundation, Prof. Maj. Gen (Rtd) L. S. Mollo urged the benefitting schools to utilize the equipment to improve the quality of education.

“We live in an era where ICT is the core of all aspects of our lives. MTN Foundation’s donation of computers is a sign of its commitment to pursue its vision of promoting ICT Education in Uganda,” he noted.

Following the handover of computers, the MTN Foundation will work together with KCCA and the schools to setup the ICT clubs, each with a patron.