Kenyan Government Delays Safaricom Floatation - Again

The London Times newspaper is reporting that the planned stockmarket floatation of Kenya's Safaricom has been further delayed - this time by the post election violence in the country. The oft-delayed sale of 25% of the company by the government had been expected to raise upwards of US$600 million for the government.

The sale was apparently delayed due to problems with trading at the stock exchange which cannot be guaranteed at this time. The stock exchange closed yesterday after just one hour of trading when gunfire was heard in the city center.

There have been calls to delay the IPO, mainly from opposition politicians who were concerned that the cash injection would be abused by the government to boost its election chances, although that issue seems to have been overtaken by recent events in the country. Many Kenyans tend to have a high amount of cash outside the banking system and there have been hopes that a delayed floatation would make it easier for more Kenyans to engage in the retail sale of shares.

The Kenyan government owns 60% of Safaricom with Vodafone owning 35% and a mystery investor the remaining 5%.

On the web: The Times

Posted to the site on 4th January 2008