Written by Michael Malakata | From IT Web Africa

Zambian government plans to repay the $103 million loan that Libya’s Lap Green Networks obtained from ZTE for the expansion of Zambia Telecommunication Company (Zamtel) network.

The loan was secured by Lap Green Networks in 2011 from ZTE in order to implement Zambia’s Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) phase IV and Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) projects.

Zamtel was sold to the Libyan company in 2010 for $257 million by the previous Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) government because it had allegedly failed to recapitalise the company to make it viable in order to compete with private operators.

The Libyan company owned 75% shares in Zamtel while the Zambian government owned 25% shares.

However, the current Patriotic Front (PF) government, which came into office in 2011, repossessed Zamtel, a state-run mobile operator from Lap Green Networks in 2012 on the grounds that the company was illegally sold by the previous administration.

Read more at IT Web Africa