Tanzania

Tanzania’s Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA) has disclosed finalising the liquidation of the defunct telecom provider Sasatel after it confirmed that the telco could neither continue operation nor settle its debts, TechPoint.africa reported. Hydrox Industrial Services Limited, an industrial service provider based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was also named.

Tanzania’s central bank is targeting lenders’ employees deemed responsible for approving non-performing loans in a bid to crack down on losses and boost credit to the private sector, Bloomberg News reported. An employee who issued loans fraudulently or without following due procedures will face legal action, Bank of Tanzania Governor Florens Luoga said in a statement. The central bank “will blacklist the concerned employees and bar them from being employed in any bank or financial institution operating in Tanzania,” Luoga said.

Appetite for Tanzania’s sovereign bonds is expected to continue as banks in the East African nation prioritize lending to the government to secure some returns despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. The nation’s last three bond sales were oversubscribed. The latest raised 182.3 billion shillings ($79 million) in 25-year bonds at 15.95%, attracting tenders of more than three times the amount offered, according to a Bank of Tanzania report on Wednesday.

The International Monetary Fund approved nearly $600 million in emergency lending for Tanzania’s health system and economic-recovery efforts as the nation battles the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. The fund’s executive board approved a total of $567 million in funds -- $189 million under the Rapid Credit Facility and $378 million under the Rapid Financing Instrument. The resources will help pay for the nation’s “urgent balance of payment needs” stemming from the virus, the IMF said.

The legal battle involving Independent Power Tanzania Ltd (IPTL) shareholders VIP Engineering and Marketing Company Ltd and Mechmar Corporation ended recently after the High Court of Tanzania ruled in favour of VIP Engineering and placed the power producer under receivership, The East African reported. VIP Engineering had accused Mechmar Corporation of misappropriation of Tsh164 billion ($126 million) paid to IPTL as capacity charges. VIP Engineering could not account for the money.

InterChem Pharma Ltd, the Moshi-based pharmaceutical firm owned by media mogul Benjamin Mengi, has been placed under receivership over a large debt accrued from Barclays Bank Tanzania Ltd., The East African reported. The firm, which three years ago acquired a $6 million loan for setting up an anti-retroviral (ARV) drug manufacturing plant in Tanzania, will go under the hammer next year.

The High Court yesterday placed the Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL) under receivership, pending determination of winding up proceedings by its minority shareholder, VIP Engineering and Marketing Limited, the Daily News reported. Judge Katherine Oriyo appointed the Administrator General as provisional liquidator of the country’s giant electricity generating company with immediate effect after granting an application filed by the VIP Engineering Company. The liquidator has 14 days to conduct investigations and file a state of affairs’ report before the court.