The International Court of Arbitration in Paris has set Jan. 31, 2004 to Feb. 4, 2005 as the dates for the hearing of the shareholders dispute which will decide the future of Vee Mobile, formerly Econet Wireless Nigeria (EWN).

The tribunal was set up to consider the claim of South Africa-based Econet Wireless that it had a right of pre-emption over an offer made to the company by Vodacom SA to buy 51 percent of the Nigerian operator.

Although Vodacom later withdrew from Nigeria, Econet lawyers have argued in their papers that, since the EWN board and shareholders had already accepted the offer made by Econet, they are entitled to exercise their rights over the Vodacom offer. Following the abrupt withdrawal of Vodacom SA from EWN, President Obasanjo of Nigeria initiated an investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria into possible corruption surrounding the deal.

Meanwhile Econet has rejected claims in a media report in Nigeria that it lost its application for an injunction against EWN to "maintain the status quo" of the company until the shareholders dispute is resolved.

?We won that case in March and Vee Mobile appealed to the Appeals Court. The latter court heard the matter in August and we are waiting for the ruling. It was set down for 11 November, but was subsequently postponed to the first of December,? says Strive Masiyiwa, CEO of Econet Wireless.