Millicom International Cellular has finalised the sale of its Tanzanian unit to finish off its multi-year divestment plan from Africa, a move to exclusively focus on Latin American markets.
Millicom announced the sale of Tigo Tanzania to pan-African group Axian in April last year for an undisclosed fee, however, the group has now revealed it will receive net cash of around $100m. Axian will take on Millicom's debts and other obligations in the unit.
Millicom chief executive Mauricio Ramos said: “With today’s announcement that we have completed the divestiture of our African businesses, we close a chapter in our history and open another solely focused on the Latin American region.”
The group also sold off shares in its Ghana joint venture with Bharti Airtel to the government last year, which has taken sole control of Airtel Tigo. It also previously had operations in Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritius, Rwanda and Senegal.
Millicom has ramped up its investments in Latin America, including the expansion of its fixed broadband network to over 20 million.
It will also spin off its fintech Tigo Money unit and portfolio of towers into separate companies. The company has earmarked financial technologies as a key growth driver with an estimated $14 billion in market opportunity in Latin America.
In Guatemala, Millicom assumed full control of a joint venture from a local partner for US$2.2 billion.
