Uganda has opened a window for East Africans to buy shares in MTN Uganda (JSE:MTN, NGSE:MTNN) when the telecom operator sells its 20 percent equity stake on the local bourse.

The government is forcing all its telecom operators, including MTN Uganda and the local unit of India’s Bharti Airtel, to list a fifth of their shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange to allow locals to benefit from the sector’s profits.

“The shares are restricted to Ugandans, and also citizens from the East African Community (EAC),” Ibrahim Bbosa, spokesman for the Uganda Communications Commission, the regulator, told Reuters.

There was no immediate comment from MTN Uganda.

The six members of the EAC are Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.