The Kenyan government announced Wednesday it has approved a deal for United Arab Emirates-based Infrastructure Corporation of Africa LLC (ICA) to become the new majority shareholder in Telkom Kenya Limited, acquiring a 60% stake from current majority owner Helios Investment Partners.
The National Treasury said in a statement that Cabinet rescinded an earlier 2022 decision for the government to purchase the majority stake from Helios. Instead, the shareholding will now go directly to ICA.
“On 3rd October 2023, the Cabinet approved…ICA of the United Arab Emirates, to be the new majority shareholder in Telkom, based on the offer they put forward,” the statement said.
According to the press release, ICA’s offer includes a capital injection to fund Telkom’s critical infrastructure and overall upgrade of capabilities. The funds will also help settle some of Telkom’s outstanding liabilities.
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On its website, ICA touts experience developing telecom and digital infrastructure projects across Africa, handling regulatory issues, spectrum agreements and large-scale network rollouts.
Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u said the government will pursue regulatory reforms to “correct the structural imbalance in the telecommunications industry.”
The deal comes as part of a “shared vision” to upgrade Telkom’s network infrastructure and improve digital services for consumers, according to the statement.
Little is known about ICA beyond a sparse website listing veteran telecom executive Anil Raj as Director and CEO. According to his LinkedIn profile, Raj became CEO early this year.
Raj helped launch India’s first mobile operator in 1994 and later led joint ventures between Ericsson and Nokia to develop early smartphones and mobile software. He served as chairman of Symbian, guiding the company to become one of the world’s largest mobile software firms in the early 2000s.
