Ethiopian Airlines has put in a bid to acquire shares in Air Malawi in response from a recent request for expressions of interest
for partial acquisition put out by the Government of Malawi.
Companies interested in the offer were to submit their proposals to the Malawi Privatization Authority had explained Patrick E. Chilambe, CEO of Air Malawi speaking at 44th General Assembly of the African Airlines Association, held in Johannesburg last week.
The government of Malawi expects to establish a consortium with the new parties acquiring a 49 percent stake while it retains a 51 percent interest.
11 proposals were submitted and eight companies were selected to participate in the bid after evaluation after a meeting with officials of the Malawian Privatization Authority and representatives of Ernst and Young, responsible for the study that recommended the privatization of the national airline.Ethiopian Airlines has strong prospects of being successful in the bid according to sources close to the privatization scheme.
It is to be remembered that Ethiopian Airlines is seeking to establish regional hubs in Southern and central Africa according to Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief Executive of the airline.
The airline management was holding talks with the governments of Zambia, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo to assess possibilities of setting up regional hubs in these countries.
A delegation from Ethiopia travelled to Zambia last week to hold discussion within officials in Zambia on the possibility of establishing a hub in Lusaka. Ethiopia expects the Zambian capital to become its Southern hub particularly since that nation does not currently have a national flag carrier according to Tewolde.
Ethiopian Airlines is also in preliminary talks with Tanzanian officials and exploring the possibilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo he explained.
Source: the Reporter
