Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - Telecommunications group Vodacom [JSE:VOD] said on Wednesday it is not aware of any legal proceedings against it by the group's partner in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo Wireless Networks (CWN).
CWN said in a statement on Friday it has lodged a lawsuit against Vodacom with the public prosecutor in Kinshasa. It accuses Vodacom of unlawfully taking $180m out of the company, which CWN wants to be repaid. Vodacom Congo is 49% owned by CWN and 51% by Vodacom International.
"We haven't received any papers," said Bob Collymore, head of corporate affairs at Vodacom. "They [CWN] talk about having lodged a lawsuit and we're trying to figure out what they mean by that.
"We're not sure whether they mean that a criminal or civil case has been made, or whether they have just provided information to the prosecutor."
Collymore said the DRC was an important part of Vodacom's strategy for African expansion, and it is not considering puling out of the country.
"We're going to fight this. We don't believe we've done anything wrong," said Collymore. "Their [CWN] debate is about whether we should have taken interest on a loan or not. But that's just the way it works - if I loan you money, then I get interest."
- Fin24.com
