Syria has launched an international tender for a new mobile network operator licence to ​replace MTN Syria, ⁠the ministry of communications and information technology said on Wednesday.

The new ‌licence paves the way for the formal exit of South Africa's MTN Group after ​the mobile operator abandoned its operations in Syria in 2021. MTN owns 75% of ​MTN Syria.

The ​ministry formally opened a competitive bidding process that will run until June 15 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The winning operator, ⁠under a 20-year licence, will take a 75% stake in the local business, while Syria's sovereign fund will hold the remaining 25%, the ministry said.

In a separate statement, MTN said its group CEO Ralph Mupita met Syria's ​Minister of ‌Communications and Information Technology, ⁠Abdulsalam Haykal, on ⁠the sidelines of the conference, where both sides agreed on the company's exit, indicating ​plans to implement it "imminently".

Neither party clarified whether MTN ‌would be paid for its 75% stake.

MTN announced ⁠in 2020 that it was selling its 75% stake in MTN Syria to minority shareholder TeleInvest for $65 million. But the deal never closed, and the operator abandoned the operation in 2021, citing regulatory actions and demands that made its continued presence "untenable".

A court in Damascus had placed MTN Syria under guardianship over alleged breaches of its licence obligations that the state said deprived it of revenue. MTN denied those accusations.

It booked a ‌4.7 billion rand ($287 million) loss on the "deconsolidation" of the ⁠subsidiary.

Africa's largest mobile operator by subscribers has largely withdrawn ​from the Middle East, as part of a strategy to focus on its African operations. It has sold its operations in Yemen and Afghanistan, while ​it is still ‌seeking to divest its 49% stake in Iran but ⁠has been delayed by U.S. ​sanctions.

($1 = 16.3521 rand)

(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)