Myanmar junta approves Telenor’s divestment from country

Myanmar’s army junta has authorised the sale of Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor’s enterprise within the nation to a Lebanese funding group after months of wrangling over the deal following the army coup early final yr.

The transfer comes as some aid to state-controlled Telenor, which has been caught in a stalemate between the regime and campaigners apprehensive concerning the influence of the corporate’s departure on human rights. It will likely be a bitter tablet to activists preventing towards the Myanmar authorities, who’ve considered the sale as an abandonment by Norway.

Earlier than deciding to exit the nation, Telenor was broadly seen because the telecoms operator in Myanmar most dedicated to human rights and transparency, difficult some junta calls for and making them public.

Telenor introduced in July it was promoting its native operations to M1 Group, a sprawling funding firm based by Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati and his brother, for $105mn. Telenor mentioned on Friday that M1 had knowledgeable the group that its native associate Shwe Byain Phyu, a Myanmar conglomerate, would personal 80 per cent of the enterprise following the transaction.

Sigve Brekke, chief govt of Telenor, instructed the Monetary Instances it was a “unhappy day” and he was “deeply involved” for the individuals of Myanmar, however the “solely selection we had was to promote our operations”.

“I hope that we get individuals to grasp that the battle for buyer safety was misplaced the day the army took over,” he mentioned, including that the corporate confronted an inconceivable state of affairs after it was refused the appropriate to permit overseas staff to go away and was requested to make use of telephone interceptive tools, contravening worldwide legislation.

“It’s inconceivable for us to face up towards the army. It’s a conflict state of affairs within the nation,” Brekke mentioned. “If we need to preserve our staff secure and function in a accountable method, it will be inconceivable for us to do this on the bottom proper now.”

On the time the deal was initially introduced, Telenor was dealing with problem persevering with its operations after the junta killed or jailed 1000’s of individuals and compelled the corporate and different telecoms teams working within the nation to chop off cell and web providers in Myanmar.

Late final yr, Myanmar’s army leaders rejected the sale on the grounds that they wished Telenor to promote to an area firm slightly than M1.

In an announcement concerning the now-approved deal, Telenor mentioned that “the regulatory approval requires that M1 ensures an area majority proprietor after the closing of the transaction between Telenor and M1”.

The sale has confronted heavy backlash from Myanmar-based rights teams which submitted a grievance to the OECD final yr alleging that the Norwegian firm had “irresponsibly disengaged from its Myanmar operations”, accusing it of failing to conduct acceptable due diligence and failing “to hunt to stop or mitigate hostile human rights impacts to its clients probably arising from the sale of its Myanmar operations”.

The grievance was issued by the Amsterdam-based Centre for Analysis on Multinational Companies, a non-profit group, on behalf of 474 nameless civil society organisations, which feared repercussions from the army authorities.

Joseph Wilde-Ramsing, a senior researcher on the physique, mentioned the “harmful sale” was “an actual kick within the intestine to the tens of millions of customers who have been satisfied by Telenor’s gross sales pitch” and criticised the change of management of delicate knowledge.

Azmi Mikati, chief govt of M1 Group, mentioned the corporate was dedicated to conducting “enterprise in Myanmar purposefully to profit the individuals of Myanmar, who depend on communication providers as a significant perform of their lives”.

“M1 Group has at all times, and can at all times, stay dedicated to upholding human rights, respecting the legal guidelines of the nations it operates in whereas advocating for shopper safety laws,” he mentioned in an announcement.

Telenor was first granted a licence to function in Myanmar in 2013 however wrote off its total funding of about $780mn within the nation in Might 2021 after Basic Min Aung Hlaing’s junta took down Aung San Suu Kyi’s authorities.