Publications
Partners
Smile Telecommunications - the group founded by SA black empowerment entrepreneur Irene Charnley - is being wound down, which will see debt owed to several SA government funders, including the PIC, extinguished in the transaction.
Smile was founded in 2007 jointly by Charnley and Mohammad Wajih Sharbatly of the Saudi-based Al Nahla Group. It has mobile telecoms operations in Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it has access to high-value spectrum. It is incorporated in Mauritius with a head office in London.
During the course of Smile’s existence, the Government Employees' Pension Fund (GEPF) through the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) committed $100 million in a 50/50 equity and loan split; the Industrial Development Corporation of SA (IDC) $40 million, made up of a $20-million loan and $20-million share subscription agreement; and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) a loan of $50 million.
