By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 26 June 2014:
The Ivory Coast government announced the nationalization of GreenN Ivory Coast (Network) mobile operator, a company owned by the Libya Africa Investment Portfolio (LAP), a subsidiary of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), Libya's state news agency LANA reports.
The nationalization involved three mobile operating companies in the country including Libya’s GreenN.
The Government said in a statement on Wednesday that the companies covered by the nationalization decision owed debts for license fees and taxes exceeding US$ 155 million.
The Ivorian Communications Minister, Bruno Kone said after a cabinet meeting Wednesday that the companies had failed to pay their debts within the 5 May final deadline set for them.
He went on to reveal that his government had decided to merge the three companies into a single entity and that there is a plan to restructure them and find a partner to buy 51% stake in the proposed single company.
Libya’s GreenN had suspended the services of its company in the Ivory Coast since last year due to a lack of liquidity caused by the freezing of Libyan sovereign fund assets.