BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi's state-run telecoms company ONATEL said on Wednesday it feared it would not reach its 2009 earnings target of 25 billion francs due to bureaucracy slowing its growth.
"As a state-run company, we have to first ask permission before making any order, and orders take months to be approved by the tender authority," General Manager Salvator Nizigiyimana told Reuters, adding the firm often ran out of sim cards.
"We might not reach the expected earnings figure due to the long bureaucratic procedures that have paralysed our business."
ONATEL, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last month, earned 20 billion francs in 2008, up from 11 billion the year before. The company has about 170,000 mobile subscribers and some 35,000 landline users.
The African nation of 8 million people grew its subscriber base by 78 percent to 480,000 users in 2008. Burundi's telecom regulator estimates customers could reach 700,000 by 2012.
Source:af.reuters.com/
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