Posted on 05/21/2014 1:58:22 PM PDT by mgist
Helios Investment Partners is an Africa-focused private investment firm backed by funds managed by George Soros, Madeleine Albright and Jacob Rothschild’s family interests and RIT Capital Partners.
One of its subsidiaries Helios Towers Africa, in July of last year picked up more than 1,000 mobile phone towers in Tanzania from cellular operator Vodacom, a local cellular operator there backed by Vodafone. That deal ended up as a three way venture with Vodacom itself, Helios and with competing cellcom carrier Millicom as well.
With the enormous capex needs of a growth industry in a very large continent, increasingly Vodafonemobile carriers in Africa have become content for the cellphone towers there to become a form of investment commons, held mainly by independent operators and shared by several mobile phone companies.
Now the Indian telecoms giant Bharti Airtel is thinking of going down the same path and spinning out its own cell towers in Africa as well. Thousands more towers from the carrier MTN may come on the block as well. The Airtel sale is reported to hope to fetch as much as $2 billion, with assets sold of in smaller chunks of Us$500 million for each tranche to make it more manageable.
Accordingly the Financial Times of London reports today that Helios Towers Africa is having discussions over raising US$500 million of new capital from private equity investors. Likely Helios will talk to their existing investor constituency, including to the Soros and Rothschild interests, The American private equity group Providence Equity Partners, who specialise in telecoms and media investments, is also well up there on Helios’s radar screens ,according to the Financial Times.
Providence Capital Partners are based in Providence Rhode Island, though also have offices in new York, London, Beijing and Hong Kong and New Delhi. The firm has US$39 billion in assets under management.
As for the strategic goals for Helios Towers Africa, these have been laid out in the Helios Investment Partners website: “In November 2009, Helios and a group of investors including Soros Strategic Partners LP, RIT Capital Partners plc and Lord Rothschild’s family interests, Albright Capital Management LLC committed an initial US$350m to Helios Towers Africa Limited.”… “a newly formed company will build and maintain telecommunications towers and lease space on those towers to wireless telecommunications services providers across Africa.”… “With the initial equity commitment, the financial flexibility of its shareholders, and the in-region operating experience of Helios Investment Partners, Helios Towers Africa anticipates establishing itself as the most experienced, operationally capable and best independent tower operator in Africa.”
Now it seems Helios may be getting ready to take further steps along this path with additional investments. Certainly with the economic recovery world wide beginning to show some legs they may well obtain a receptive audience in the capital markets, whether Providence Capital Partners or other entities.
“funds managed by George Soros, Madeleine Albright and Jacob Rothschild’s family interests”
What could possibly go wrong?
Also, it’s too bad Bernie Madoff is not currently available to lend his expertise to this enterprise.
First, they’ll ask us for money to help build the cell towers. Then, they’ll get the Obamaphone program extended to Africa, so the cell towers can actually have customers.
My guess is they need a place to launder money now that Ukraine is under Putin’s. control.
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http://www.africareview.com/News/Doubts-over-Tanzania-will-to-fight-drugs/-/979180/1934680/-/3pvo6u/-/index.html
Tanzania on the spot over anti-narcotics war
By KATARE MBASHIRU in Dar es Salaam | Friday, August 2 2013 at 11:03
Barely a week after a Tanzanian legislator was accused of drug trafficking by prisoners in Hong Kong, attention has turned to just how prepared Dar es Salaam was to crack down on the vice.
President Jakaya Kikwete was handed a list of 100 suspected drug barons six years ago, but the illicit trade persists.
Only this week, there was a public outcry over the perceived failure of the government to deal with heavyweights in the trade.
The authorities were accused of being content with catching “small fish” after reports circulated in social media suggesting that a legislator was involved in the illicit trade.
The Hong Kong letter reportedly claims that the MP and other local businessmen were involved in drug dealing.
The MP presented himself at a police station Thursday and asked the officers to establish the truth of the matter.
The hype over the “letter” sparked off a public outcry over the rise of drug trafficking as more Tanzanians get caught in the act.
When he assumed power, President Kikwete vowed to name the drug barons in public.
He ordered security agencies to give him a list of the suspected kingpins in the business.
But while the President admitted to having received a list of 100 big-time drug traffickers, he has yet to tell the nation who they are.
At some point, the then minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office (Policy and Parliamentary Affairs), Mr Philip Marmo, said President Kikwete had formed a task force comprising officials from Tanzania Intelligence Services, Tanzania Revenue Authority, the police force and the Drug Control Commission to deal with the matter.
Big traffickers
Opposition politicians and analysts said Thursday that his failure to make public the drug barons demonstrated lack of political will to deal with the matter.
The head of the Directorate of Communications at State House, Mr Salva Rweyemamu, said the government was winning the battle over drugs, but it just was not making a song and dance about it in public.
At some point, though, he indicated that gathering evidence against the traffickers was a problem.
But analysts said the fact that it is difficult to get the evidence to nail big traffickers points to significant weaknesses in the law enforcement system.
University of Dar es Salaam Lecturer Bashiru Ali told The Citizen: “We are dealing with a corrupt system here. It will be difficult for a government that has failed to curb grand corruption, human trafficking, poaching and other serious offences to weed out drug barons.”
Former Chama Cha Mapinduzi Vice Chairman Pius Msekwa asked the authorities to work out how drug dealers could be brought to justice. Mr Msekwa, who is also the former speaker of the National Assembly, said it was high time youth—the group most affected by drugs—were rescued from the vice.
Opposition Chadema Secretary-General Wilbrod Slaa said the rise in drug trafficking could be put down to lack of political will to deal with the crisis.
He added: “For a long time, President Kikwete has failed to take serious steps to name and shame drug traffickers and has, instead, given them more time to surrender—something that cannot happen in any country in the world.”
My guess is they need a place to launder money now that Ukraine is under Putin’s. control.
-–—————————————————
http://www.africareview.com/News/Doubts-over-Tanzania-will-to-fight-drugs/-/979180/1934680/-/3pvo6u/-/index.html
Tanzania on the spot over anti-narcotics war
By KATARE MBASHIRU in Dar es Salaam | Friday, August 2 2013 at 11:03
Barely a week after a Tanzanian legislator was accused of drug trafficking by prisoners in Hong Kong, attention has turned to just how prepared Dar es Salaam was to crack down on the vice.
President Jakaya Kikwete was handed a list of 100 suspected drug barons six years ago, but the illicit trade persists.
Only this week, there was a public outcry over the perceived failure of the government to deal with heavyweights in the trade.
The authorities were accused of being content with catching “small fish” after reports circulated in social media suggesting that a legislator was involved in the illicit trade.
The Hong Kong letter reportedly claims that the MP and other local businessmen were involved in drug dealing.
The MP presented himself at a police station Thursday and asked the officers to establish the truth of the matter.
The hype over the “letter” sparked off a public outcry over the rise of drug trafficking as more Tanzanians get caught in the act.
When he assumed power, President Kikwete vowed to name the drug barons in public.
He ordered security agencies to give him a list of the suspected kingpins in the business.
But while the President admitted to having received a list of 100 big-time drug traffickers, he has yet to tell the nation who they are.
At some point, the then minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office (Policy and Parliamentary Affairs), Mr Philip Marmo, said President Kikwete had formed a task force comprising officials from Tanzania Intelligence Services, Tanzania Revenue Authority, the police force and the Drug Control Commission to deal with the matter.
Big traffickers
Opposition politicians and analysts said Thursday that his failure to make public the drug barons demonstrated lack of political will to deal with the matter.
The head of the Directorate of Communications at State House, Mr Salva Rweyemamu, said the government was winning the battle over drugs, but it just was not making a song and dance about it in public.
At some point, though, he indicated that gathering evidence against the traffickers was a problem.
But analysts said the fact that it is difficult to get the evidence to nail big traffickers points to significant weaknesses in the law enforcement system.
University of Dar es Salaam Lecturer Bashiru Ali told The Citizen: “We are dealing with a corrupt system here. It will be difficult for a government that has failed to curb grand corruption, human trafficking, poaching and other serious offences to weed out drug barons.”
Former Chama Cha Mapinduzi Vice Chairman Pius Msekwa asked the authorities to work out how drug dealers could be brought to justice. Mr Msekwa, who is also the former speaker of the National Assembly, said it was high time youth—the group most affected by drugs—were rescued from the vice.
Opposition Chadema Secretary-General Wilbrod Slaa said the rise in drug trafficking could be put down to lack of political will to deal with the crisis.
He added: “For a long time, President Kikwete has failed to take serious steps to name and shame drug traffickers and has, instead, given them more time to surrender—something that cannot happen in any country in the world.”
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