It seems the telecom business in Uganda this year is becoming more of a nightmare. After government regulatory body of the communications sector; Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) sent new directives to telco operators. One banning the use of scratch cards in favor of electronic points of sales and distribution, and the other being the extreme measure of sim card sales, renewals, swaps, and replacements.
It has come to our notice that Vodafone Uganda has finally shut down after four years in business. This comes after the telco is reported to have nearly UGX300 billion in debts that they could not copy up with. According to multiple reports, since mid of 2017, Vodafone Uganda has been going through a rough business patch which led to the closure of some of its stores and a fall in revenue.
Earlier this year in February, the High Court appointed lawyer Donald Nyakairu; a senior partner at ENSafrica as interim administrator of Afrimax a brand that was operating as Vodafone Uganda. They handed in all its accounts books to Donald for scrutiny. Only to report that they had over UGX300 billion in debts against an asset base of UGX55 billion.
According to TechJaja reports, its staggering debt portfolio couldn’t let it finish the greater part of the year as the liabilities outweighed its asset portfolio, and thus the creditors voted to have its assets liquidated. This was reported to the online technology publishers by an insider who preferred anonymity.
We haven’t received any confirmation or comment from the telco or UCC.
