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Etisalat Nigeria is expected to raise fresh capital and work towards returning to profit after regulators rescued the telecoms firm from collapse, Boye Olusanya, the company’s new CEO, told Reuters on Tuesday.

“Our mandate is to make sure the business runs as profitably as it can,” Olusanya said. “What is most important now is to ... ensure that the business runs and meets its obligations.”

On Monday, Etisalat Group terminated its management and technical contracts with Etisalat Nigeria after the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission intervened last week in a dispute between Etisalat Nigeria and a consortium of Nigerian banks over a $1.2 billion loan.

The regulators had engineered the appointment of a new board and management for the Nigerian telecoms operator after reaching an agreement with the banks.

The banks involved in the loan deal include: Zenith Bank, GT Bank, First Bank, UBA, Fidelity Bank, Access Bank, Ecobank, FCMB, Stanbic IBTC Bank, and Union Bank.

“Once we've gotten ourselves to where certain decisions are made and the structure and form of the business is formed then maybe we would look at a capital raising structure that would be suitable for the nature of how the business will be run,” Olusanya said. “Obviously if it’s possible to do it tomorrow we will do it, because that enhances the ability of this business to roll-out quickly, to get more subscribers, which is what everybody wants.”

Etisalat Group has given its erstwhile Nigerian unit three weeks to reach a new technical services agreement, covering the use of the Etisalat brand, after all UAE shareholders – including Mubadala – pulled out of the Nigerian telecoms firm and left its board and management.

Hatem Dowidar, Etisalat Group CEO, told Reuters that the new agreement is short-term, as the Abu Dhabi-based company intends to phase out its brand from Nigeria in the near future.

“We're still in negotiations with Etisalat over the use of the brand name,” Olusanya said, adding that he has plans to rename the company if talks collapse.