Tanzanian Retail Investors Flock into Vodacom IPO

Tanzanian retail investors flock into Vodacom Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The Vodacom IPO is on track to be the largest in the 19-year history of the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE).

Vodacom Tanzania was launched in 2000 and is a subsidiary of South African-based Vodacom Group, which is a unit of British mobile phone giant, Vodafone.

The IPO is due to list on the DSE during June 2017, pending final verification by the CMSA.

Vodacom announced on Monday afternoon that more than 40 000 Tanzanians, many of them first-time participants in the capital market, have subscribed for shares in the IPO, a milestone that executes on Government’s vision to empower more Tanzanians to own stakes in local companies.

“We look forward to a fruitful relationship with our new shareholders as we take Vodacom Tanzania PLC forward into a new era as a public listed Company,” Ian Ferrao, MD of Vodacom Tanzania, said in a statement.

“Vodacom has a proven track record as the leading telco in Tanzania and it is fitting that we were the first to heed the call by the Parliament of Tanzania requiring licensed telco operators to list on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange.”

Vodacom said due to the sheer volume of applications and the size of the IPO, it has taken slightly longer than initially anticipated to ensure all applications could be processed and to ensure the creation of new central securities depository (CSD) account numbers for the many first-time investors in the DSE.

NBC, the receiving bank for the IPO, has now concluded with reconciliation of funds and applications with each of the brokers that participated across the Country.

Vodacom Tanzania PLC, through its lead advisor Orbit Securities, submitted the full register of IPO participants to the CMSA, who are now undertaking the task of verifying each of the applications.

“This exercise, given the volumes of applications, may take some additional time and Vodacom Tanzania will only be in a position to announce the final results once the CMSA concludes its verification process. Further information on the results and the next steps towards the listing will be announced in due course,” said the telco

“We now look forward to listing our shares on the DSE and begin trading soon. This is going to be a great milestone for Vodacom Tanzania, the CMSA and the DSE,” says Ferrao.