Vodacom's acquisition of an additional indirect 17.2% interest in Vodacom Tanzania is now unconditional and has closed, the company said in a statement today.
"As all the conditions precedent to the transaction have been fulfilled, the transaction is now unconditional and closing is expected to take place today, 29 April 2014."
This comes after Vodacom announced it would spend R2.5 billion to increase its stake in Vodacom Tanzania, its most successful international operation, in November. Vodacom had been eyeing African expansion opportunities for some time prior.
At the time, Vodacom indicated it wanted to boost income from its international operations to 25% of total revenue over two years, up from 22%.
Because finding a new territory in which to expand is difficult in a market dominated by a handful of operators, Vodacom - which has has operations in Tanzania, Mozambique, Lesotho and the Democratic Republic of Congo - is taking advantage of Tanzania's anticipated growth.
Vodacom spokesperson Richard Boorman said in November that increasing Vodacom's holding in Tanzania made perfect sense.
While Tanzania has a population of 48 million, slightly less than SA, its mobile penetration is only at 57%, compared to SA at 138%. Vodacom's other international operations, with the expectation of Lesotho at 67%, all report estimated penetration at under 40%.
Vodacom previously said its low penetration rate made Tanzania "attractive". Churn is also relatively low, at 54.1%; compared with Lesotho, at 41.6%; Mozambique at 70.6%; and the Democratic Republic of Congo, at 88.2%.
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