Privatisation of Sotelma to begin in October

Societe des Telecommunications du Mali (Sotelma), the state-owned monopoly operator of local, long-distance and international services in Mali, will be privatised before the end of the year, it has been reported by PANA. The opening of technical offers will take place 31 October, with financial offers expected by 12 November, sources at the Malian Ministry of Communications and New Technologies suggest. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, government plans to sell a 51% stake in Sotelma have been ongoing since the turn of the century, with local telecoms trade union leaders pledging support for the move last year.