Tanzania truncates OnMobile operations

OnMobile has been forced to cut down its operations in Tanzania, according to media reports. The reports said it was doing business in the country without a trading licence.

In a report by AllAfrica.com, Tanzania’s Deputy Minister for Commu-nications, Science and Technology January Yusuf Makamba was quoted as saying OnMobile, though had applied for a business licence, had started trading before acquiring it. The company had teamed up with Vodacom and Airtel to start operations in the country. “We have curtailed their business. It is illegal in this country to engage in such big-time trading without being registered,” the minister said at the Tanzanian National Assem-bly, according to the report.

An email query sent to OnMobile on the subject did not elicit any response.

Net profit declines 26%
Meanwhile, OnMobile has reported a 26 per cent decline in its net profit for the quarter ended June 30, at Rs 9.5 crore, compared with the corresponding period last year.

The company attributed this to a higher foreign/withholding taxes it had to pay during the quarter without specifying the nature of taxes or the country.

The revenues of the company increased 36 per cent to Rs 185.2 crore, compared with the corresponding period last fiscal. Sequentially, net profit jumped 99 per cent and revenues increased four per cent, ‘driven by growth in international markets despite a sluggish domestic market’, the company said.