Except a miracle happens,the next three weeks will see the romance between Etisalat International and Etisalat Nigeria finally coming to a sad end.
And already fears abound about what will become of the network, their subscribers, staffers, etc.
Things, it would be recalled, starting falling apart for the Abu Dhabi-owned company which was ‘imported’ into Nigeria by once upon a time banking whiz kid, Keem Belo-Osagie, following their inability to resolve their $1.7 billion loan gone awry.
Confirming the shocking news of their intending exit which has left many worried was the CEO of Etisalat International, Mr. Hatem Dowidar.
Shedding more light on their troubles, however, Mr. Ibrahim Dikko, Vice President, Regulatory & Corporate Affairs, Etisalat Nigeria said:’ As at today, we can categorically state that the outstanding loan sum to the consortium (of banks) stands at $227m and N113bn, a total of about $574m if the Naira portion is converted to US Dollars. This, in essence, means almost half of the original loan of $1.2bn, has been repaid.
‘Etisalat continued to service the loan up until February 2017, when discussions with the banks regarding the repayment restructuring commenced’. Unfortunately, their efforts at the end of the day yielded only very little.
With a subscriber base in the excess of 20 million, and a staff strength of over a thousand employees, panic has already set in about what fate will befall Etisalat Nigeria henceforth. Hear what one concerned subscriber told YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine:’It’s obvious that something is wrong with the network. In fact, Etisalat is no longer what it used to be in terms of service and their current woes no doubt must have contributed to that. I however pray that they survive this’.
A staffer who pleaded anonymity also hinted that job loss will be unavoidable should the worse eventually happen.