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struggled to repatriate funds from Iran since its market arrival more than a decade ago. MTN also has a 49% stake in Iran Internet Group (IIG) in partnership with Germany’s Rocket Internet. The venture runs the most successful ride-hailing app in Iran.
Iranian Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) director Hossein Fallah told reporters that MTN had failed to invest expected capital in the fibre optic project. He added that “a team from MTN was meant to visit Iran to advance the project” but cancelled the trip and, given certain pressures, the company was not willing to pursue the project.
Initially, the company said it would invest $350mn into the project, which was expected to trigger a $400mn loan from the Iranian government for its local operation. It is not known whether the government has reneged on its side of the agreement due to the mounting financial pressures being experienced by Iran because of the US decision to attempt to put it in an economic vice. China’s Huawei and Finland’s Nokia have also signed agreements to roll out fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) in several cities across Iran. The deals became available as part of a rush by the Rouhani administration to achieve super-fast home internet for the country after years of trailing nations more advanced in internet access.
DigiKala, the business known as “Iran’s Amazon” and the country’s largest online retailer of electronic and clothing goods, has agreed a share swap to bring online-only supermarket Rocoland into its operation, according to a press release from the company released to digital news site nodud.com. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. DigiKala, run by the Mohammadi twin brothers, has doubled down on e-commerce in the country of 80mn in recent years, expanding its range of offers beyond its original digital line-up of goods to clothing, homewares and medical and bathroom devices.
In the press release, Digikala said: “DigiKala seeks to become a destination for all user needs, and covering the basic needs of users such as in food and consumer goods is thus one of the most important measures to achieve this goal.” The company observed that the process of stocking fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) items is relatively complicated because of the required supply chain management.
Under the announced deal, Rocoland will remain independent, despite close alignment behind the scenes, and will continue to operate via its website.
The announcement also indicated that Rocoland intends to expand its range of FMCG goods to 10,000 items by the end of the current Persian year, which falls on March 20, 2019.
While discussing the move to grow the DigiKala and Rocoland brands, the Mohammadi brothers, believed by observers to be worth more than $100mn each due to their remaining DigiKala stakes, said they intended to offer some shares in the company on the Tehran Stock Exchange in coming months.
9.2.5 Tourism corporate news
On May 28, Dutch-based Booking.com was reported to be halting its operations in Iran due to the impending US sanctions. The move was disclosed by the Hoteliers Association of Iran. The company was represented by its Middle East subsidiary at the 2017 Iran Tourism Fair in Tehran and as of January 2018 said it would accept local payments in rials. Hoteliers Association of Iran director Jamshid Hamzezadeh said that given the relatively low number of Iran hotel bookings carried out on Booking.com, the
51 IRAN Country Report August 2018 www.intellinews.com