A team from Egypt’s Orascom Telecom plans to fly to Zimbabwe this week in a bid to secure its Zimbabwean unit’s telecoms licence, following threats by government not to renew it.

This is according to report from Zimbabwe’s NewsDay, which says that a team representing owners of Telecel Zimbabwe will this week speak to Zimbabwean government officials about renewing the mobile phone operator’s licence this month.

The move comes after the Zimbabwean government has criticised Telecel for not complying with the country’s indigenisation law, which compels foreign firms to cede their majority shares to black Zimbabweans.

Telecel Zimbabwe is majority-owned by Egyptian telecoms company Orascom. In turn, Russia’s VimpelCom is the parent company of Orascom and Vimpelcom's top shareholder is Moscow-based Altimo, a company controlled by billionaire Mikhail Fridman, whom Forbes magazine ranks as the second-richest man in Russia.

Reports have emerged, though, of Vimpelcom preparing to sell its stake in Telecel Zimbabwe.

Nevertheless, Orascom is sending a team to Zimbabwe to try to renew its licence in that country.

“We can confirm that representatives from our parent company will be here this week to meet relevant authorities regarding the licence renewal for Telecel Zimbabwe,” Telecel company spokesperson Obert Mandimika told NewsDay.

Telecel Zimbabwe has 2.5 million network users according to the Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) and is second to Econet Wireless in terms of subscriber numbers in Zimbabwe.

Last month, Telecel board chairman Dr. James Makamba told Zimbabwe’s The Herald newspaper that the mobile operator's shareholders are determined to address its shareholding structure.

"All Telecel shareholders agree that there is need to comply with the laws of the land and will do everything possible to meet the requirements,” Dr. Makamba told the newspaper.

"A lot is happening behind the scenes to resolve this and an announcement will be made at the appropriate time," Makamba added.