Wireless Wars Wend Way Across Africa
Bharti Airtel Ltd.’s assault on the Kenyan cellphone market wasn’t the Indian company’s first attempted foray into Africa. Bharti in 2009 attempted a $24 billion merger with the continent’s largest telecom, MTN Group Ltd., a South African company that operates in 21 African countries and the Mideast. But that deal fell through.
Bharti did, however, forge a $10.7 billion deal last year to acquire most of the African operations of Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co., better known as Zain. That deal gave Bharti its foothold in Kenya.
