The African mobile market is heating up as never before. Just recently we had India’s Bharti Airtel acquiring Zain’s networks across the continent, excluding Sudan and Morocco, and now we’re hearing Johannesburg-based MTN is looking to grab several of Orascom’s mobile businesses in Africa.
According to the Financial Times, talks had initially focused on Orascom’s Algerian business but have been expanded to include other markets, including Tunisia, Burundi, Central African Republic, Namibia and Zimbabwe. A person familiar with MTN said Phuthuma Nhleko, the company’s CEO, had coveted Orascom’s African mobile businesses for years.
MTN said in a statement that it was in talks that “may or may not lead to a transaction,” not naming Orascom directly.
Finally, it’s important to add that the MTN’s move on Orascom is the latest attempt by the South African company to expand its business after two failed attempts to merge with India’s Bharti.
We’ll definitely keep watching the global mobile market, so stay tuned.
[Via: MobileBusinessBriefing]