Skip to content
Subscriber Only

Tanzania Lays Ownership Claim to Bharti Airtel's Local Unit

  • President says Indian-owned operations belong to state
  • Government ordered phone companies to sell shares last year
General Economy As Kenya Faces Bleak 2018 Outlook In Vote Aftermath
Photographer: Luis Tato/Bloomberg
Updated on

Tanzania said Bharti Airtel Ltd.’s local unit belongs to state-owned Tanzania Telecommunications Co., a claim that sets up an ownership dispute between the government and the Indian phone operator.

“Airtel, according to the information we have,” is an asset of Tanzania Telecommunications Co., President John Magufuli said on the East African country’s national broadcaster, TBC, on Wednesday. “A terrible game was played. I don’t want to say more than that.”