New Generation Consortium Needs $4.5Bn to Rejig Nitel

New Generation Telecommunications Consortium, the preferred bidder for the purchase of a controlling stake in Nitel/Mtel may have won the first phase of the battle for what is left of the beleaguered national carrier, but the enormous financial weight needed to rejig the carrier may prove fiercer, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek can now reveal.
In the short to medium terms, New Generations Telecom requires at least $4.5 billion to bring the first national operator to the level of competitions in the market and in the present very tough global financial market, the amount is staggering.
Apart from the $2.5 billion bid price for Nitel, the investors must source at least additional $2 billion to fast track the market re-entry of the national carrier and bring the carrier to the level of competitions like MTN, Glo, and Zain.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that the fear is that after spending about $4.5 billion, the investors may not expect any return on investment at least in the next 10 years because the market is nearing saturation.
An official of the consortium who spoke on the condition of anonymity asked  “don’t you think we have studied the market and worked out the business module that suits the national carrier before we put our best foot forward?”
The official said the consortium is bent on breaking the jinx and myth that surround successive failed attempts to sell government stake in the now comatose Nitel.
According to him, most of the funds will be sourced offshore. “We are not looking for local financing, Minerva Group; you will recall is our main financial backer. Money is not more important as financial and technical know-how,” the official added.
Expressing readiness of the group to pay, the official, said “if the National Council on Privatization (NCP) approves, today, we will hand BPE our draft in tomorrow.”
Chigbo Anichebe, spokesman for the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) confirmed that NCP, the final okaying authority is yet to sit to approve the transaction.
He told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek that when the NCP approves the sale, the preferred bidder will be given 10 days to pay 30 per cent of the $2.5 billion (amounting to some $750 million) while the remaining 70 per cent must be paid within 60 days.
Meanwhile, the preferred bidder is rumoured to have string of suitors with deep wallets as well as technical and managerial expertise eager to turn around the fortunes of the national carrier.
They are eyeing Nitel’s tremendous goodwill, frequency, Sat-3 and landed properties.
An inside source said “that way, we hope to use the avalanche of cash that will available to restart the network. The truth is that the $2.5 billion by New Generation Consortium is unnerving.”
According to the BPE, New Generation Consortium’s $2.5 billion was followed by Omen International’s $956 million. Others are Brymedia Consortium $551 million and AFZ/Spectrum consortium $375.5 million and MTN which bidded for only SAT-3 and offered $25 million.
According to the source, negotiations among the parties have been characterized by hard bargaining and shrewd exchanges.
It would be recalled that New Generation Consortium etched its name in the record books after it emerged the preferred bidder for Nitel. It was a landmark privatization deal in any developing country outside the oil and gas sector.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that the New Generation Telecom Consortium involved is made up of GiCell, local telco, China Unicom (Europe) and Minerva. Others are Sumatra Star GT Limited, Unified Access Licencee, and BGL Private Equity Limited, a subsidiary of BGL Plc.
GiCell Wireless on the other hand is jointly owned by GIC Nigeria Limited and Usman Ahmed Gumi, proprietor of G-Cell Nigeria Limited which is a rural telephony operator.
While GIC Nigeria Limited owned two-thirds equity, Gumi owned the balance one third of GiCell.
GIC Nigeria Limited with share capitalization of N500, 000 and located on Cemetery Road, Onitsha, Anambra State is owned by Ifeanyi Chima (N400, 000 shares) and Ikeme Chima (N25, 000). They are both directors of the company with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) Company Registration number RC 207962.