National Social Security Fund has earned over Shs30 billion from shares the fund holds in the giant telecommunication company MTN.
NSSF holds 1,980,000,000 shares and the fund last week received the third payment of Shs10.692 billion.
“We disbursed Shs9.424 billion in the first quarter and we followed with Shs9.9 billion in the second installment and by just last week we made the last payment of Shs10.692 billion making a total of Shs30.016 billion to the fund” said a source at MTN.
MTN last year announced its intention to float 20 percent of its shares on Uganda Securities Exchange (USE). The announcement was made by the chairman of MTN Uganda, Charles Mbire.
“I announce MTN’s intention to float 20 percent of its issued shares through an Initial Public Offer (IPO) of existing ordinary shares, a process which has already been approved by Capital Market Authority (CMA) of Uganda,” Mbire said.
Mbire said the listing is in line with the Group’s strategic priority to create shared value, partly through ensuring broad-based ownership in its operating subsidiaries. It is also in line with the provisions of MTN Uganda’s NTO licence, which require its listing by end-June 2022.
In June, 2020, the Government of Uganda through Uganda communications Commission (UCC) renewed the National Telecommunication Operator Licence of MTN Uganda and thus extended its stay in Uganda on condition that they would sell 20 percent of its shares to the public of Uganda.
In 2019 President Museveni urged MTN Uganda to list on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) so that some of the revenue stays in the country as opposed to all moving out. At that time National Social Security Fund (NSSF) had acquired 4 percent of the shares and the Fund remains a potential purchase of the extra stake.
NSSF is largest shareholders in the MTN-Uganda and is followed Mr Mbire who boasts of over 4 percent share value in MTN worth over $60 million.
Mr Mbire recently bolstered his stake at MTN by acquiring an additional 2,263,930 shares at a total cost of Shs459,907,621.00 on the Uganda Securities Exchange.
