Eyes have been raised over mobile operator MTN Zambia’s decision to list its shares on the Lusaka Stock Exchange using a special purpose vehicle called Ikulileni Investments Plc.

Prospective shareholders have raised concerns that allowing MTN to list through Ikulileni will be a breach of listing rules that stipulate a company needs a minimum of three years profitability history.

Ikulileni Investments Plc was only incorporated in October 2014 and, under the rules of listing on the Lusaka Stock Exchange, the company does not qualify.

There is also concern over potential conflict of interest because some MTN Zambia directors, including board chairman Valentine Chitalu, are also shareholders in and board members of Ikulileni.

Some commentators have suggested MTN is attempting to avoid scrutiny by minority shareholders who will invest in the operator if it lists directly as MTN Zambia.

Zambia’s minister of Communications and Transport, Yamfwa Mukanga, has said as far as he was concerned, there was nothing irregular about the share offer.

Mobily issued a statement earlier today confirming it had postponed its annual shareholder meeting, scheduled for this afternoon, after Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) suspended trading of its shares on the country’s stock exchange yesterday.

The CMA has been conducting an investigation into the company’s financials, and in a statement, the financial regulator said it will not resume trading until the operator “discloses the financial impact on its financial statements, in light of observations that have been submitted to the company”.

The watchdog said its observations looked into Mobily’s financial statements, obtained documents and added that it had interviewed “concerned parties” before submitting the report to the company. It is not clear whether the regulator is looking for a response based on past or future earnings.

Mobily said it was looking into the matter, and will announce a date for the annual shareholder meeting in due course.

The company, owned by Etisalat, has been under investigation by the CMA since November 2014, after the operator restated figures for 2013 and the first nine months of 2014, which it blamed on an accounting error.

The issue led to the suspension, and the subsequent release of founding Mobily CEO Khalid Al Kaf, earlier this year.

Mobily then revised its 2014 financial performance, which saw it turn a small profit into a US$243 million loss.

The issue led to the regulator briefly suspending its shares in February in order to ‘give the company time to announce a clarification related to one of its businesses’. At the time, the CMA said it would “look into continuing the suspension” after Mobily disclosed the reasons behind the loss. The regulator stated its original investigation was based on the violation of market listing rules, including provisions against insider trading.

Etisalat Group has announced the sale of its 85 per cent stake in Zanzibar Telecom Limited (Zantel) to Millicom. Under the terms of the agreement, Etisalat will receive cash consideration of US$1 and Millicom will assume total debt obligations of US$74 million. In addition, Zantel will have up to US$32 million in net current liabilities at closing.

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval by the Tanzanian Communication Regulatory Authority and the Fair Competition Commission.

Last September it was reported that Etisalat was considering the sale of its operations in Tanzania, with sources at the time suggesting that it was exploring the sale of its stake with the help of Deutsche Bank.

Zantel is a relatively minor player in Tanzania, but Millicom, which owns Tigo Tanzania, could benefit from the acquisition.

The remaining 15 per cent stake in Zantel is owned by the government of Zanzibar.

Mobinil is set to list up to 15 per cent of its stock or sell a stake to a local partner, according to parent Orange.

Mobinil is 99 per cent owned by Orange, and the company’s chief executive Stephane Richard said it will either list between 10 – 15 per cent of the company on the Cairo bourse, or seek new local strategic partners in 2016, according to Reuters.

The Egypt cellco said in March it would look to seek additional capital by the end of this year.

In a press conference, Richard also revealed Orange will increase its stake in its Moroccan subsidiary Meditel from 40 per cent to 49 per cent. He also said Tunisia is another market where it might expand.

Orange is banking on growth in Africa and the Middle East after selling off parts of its mobile business in Europe, including stakes in the UK, Switzerland and Portugal.

Orange has also been looking at ways to create a separate unit for Middle East and Africa to attract investors. Previously, it has been reported that Orange has plans to spin off the emerging markets business.

Combined, Orange has almost 100 million connections in the Middle East and Africa according to GSMA Intelligence, with Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal and Mali among its largest operations.

Vodafone Qatar reported that for its fiscal full-year to end-March 2015 the operator experienced mobile customer growth of nine per cent to 1.44 million.

The cellco reported revenue for the year amounted to QAR2.31 billion (US$635 million), up 16 per cent year-on-year, while ARPU amounted to QAR122.

Vodafone Qatar’s EBITDA margin was stable at 25 per cent, with EBITDA for the full financial year coming in at QAR 566 million, an increase of 14 per cent year-on-year.

Net loss improved by 12 per cent to a loss of QAR216 million, while capital investment increased 68 per cent to QAR579 million, representing 25 per cent of revenue reinvested.

The Vodafone Qatar board recommended a dividend payment to its shareholders of 2.1 per cent of nominal share value (QAR 0.21 per share), representing a 24 per cent increase on the company’s maiden dividend paid last year.