Rostam Aziz to earn more than $200 million from selling Vodacom shares

Dar es Salaam. Tanzanian multi-millionaire tycoon Rostam Aziz is currently in the process of selling off his remaining shares in public-listed Vodacom Tanzania, the country’s largest mobile telecom company.

According to a report by Tanzania’s Citizen newspaper, the Tanzanian businessman is selling off his 26.25% stake in the company to Vodacom Group of South Africa. The stake is currently valued at more than $200 million, but it is not yet clear how much Vodacom South Africa will be paying the Tanzanian tycoon for the stake.

Aziz's shares are held via Mirambo Holding, his family’s investment vehicle. In 2014, Aziz sold off a 17.2% stake in Vodacom Tanzania to Vodacom South Africa for a reported $240 million. At the time, Aziz held the shares via Cavalry Holdings, a Jersey island-registered private investment company wholly controlled by him.

Vodacom Tanzania, which has more than 11 million active subscribers, is the country’s largest mobile phone company, and Vodacom Group’s second most successful operation in Africa, after its South African unit that boasts more than 23 million subscribers. Last August, the company made its debut on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange.

Rostam Aziz, 57, was once Tanzania’s richest man and the country's first billionaire. Apart from his shareholding in Vodacom Tanzania, he built a fortune from stakes in contract mining firm Caspian Mining, a Port in Dar es Salaam, extensive real estate in Tanzania and the Middle East and investments in Tanzanian media.