WSJ has an article about investors flocking to Africa to acquire Telecoms.

Telecom Players Focus on Africa

Deal-Making Flurry
Shows the Desire
To Tap Into Growth

By ROBB M. STEWART
June 5, 2008; Page B5

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Amid a global scramble for new subscribers, telecommunications operators and investors are taking a sudden shine to a place with lots of potential customers: Africa.

In the latest show of interest, private-equity firms Apax Partners Worldwide LLP, Madison Dearborn Partners LLC and TA Associates Inc. agreed to buy a €1.1 billion ($1.7 billion) stake in Weather Investments, a holding company owned by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris. Among other assets, Weather holds a controlling stake in Orascom Telecom Holding SAE, one of the biggest telecom outfits in subscriber terms in Africa and the Middle East.

That continued a flurry of deal-making. On Monday, news broke that South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale is leading a consortium, including U.S. hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management LLC, exploring an acquisition of Telkom SA Ltd., the continent's largest fixed-line operator in terms of subscribers and revenue. The same day, Vodafone Group PLC, the world's largest mobile operator in revenue terms, said it wanted to boost its stake in a joint mobile-phone venture with Telkom. Last month, an Indian suitor walked away from merger talks with Africa's largest mobile carrier, MTN Group Ltd., only to be replaced by another Indian company.

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No more roaming fees with Safricom in Rwanda!

Safricom Kenya just announced that it will extend it's network to Rwanda. This is important because there are expensive roaming fees when you cross to another country or territory. I think in the next few years you will see reciprocal agreements between several carriers in the developing world.


From AfricaNews

The Kenyan mobile phone firm said it was still consulting with other African players in DR Congo, Mozambique and South Africa to extend the network to the Southern Africa region, but this would depend on the cost of connection.

Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Michael Joseph said the service would allow some 600,000 MTN Rwanda subscribers to use the service. The deal makes Rwanda the third East African country to join the borderless network.

Uganda and Tanzania became the first two East African states to join the one-area network, which allows the subscribers to use mobile phone re-charge vouchers from any of the networks. The service would be activated

MTN: mobile subscriber growth grows in Africa

MTN has been on an acquisition binge the past few years. Last year MTN bought Areeba's operation in Ghana, and West Africa. Now MTN has reported that its number of subscribers rose by 90% to 48.2 million due to its $5.5bn purchase of INVESTCOM. Revenue also jumped by 69% to R34bn for the half-year to June 2007 while core operations extended their revenue by 35%. Most of the firm's profit is sourced in South African and Nigeria, but the firm is looking towards the Middle East for further expansion opportunities.

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