Alpha Telecom Mali, which was awarded the country’s third mobile licence in September this year –beating off interest from the likes of Viettel Group and Bharti Airtel – remains in limbo after one half of the partnership refused to pay its share of the XOF55 billion (USD107.6 million) licence fee. An unconfirmed report by Agence Ecofin claims that Apollinaire Compaore, the businessman behind Planor Afrique paid his XOF33 billion share of the licence fee on 15 October, but his local business partner has yet to fulfil his financial obligations.
Back in September Agence Ecofin claimed that Alpha Telecom Mali was a joint venture between Planor Afrique and Monaco Telecom, although the latter has not been named in the agency’s latest report, casting doubts over its ongoing participation in the joint venture.