Vodafone eyes stake in Ghana Telecom

... Portugal Telecom still interested
Vodafone is in talks with the Ghanaian government about acquiring a majority stake in the country's leading telecoms group as the UK group seeks to boost is presence in Africa.

The news comes after Vodafone considered a bid for South Africa's MTN this weekend, but rejected the idea of a £19bn-plus takeover offer.

Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin now plans to focus Vodafone's investments on a country-by-country basis. Ghana could be next.

The country hopes to agree the sale of a majority stake in Ghana Telecom by the middle of the year and is speaking to a number of prospective buyers.

Vodafone's South African joint venture Vodacom was one of three bidders for Ghana Telecom, along with France Telecom and Portugal Telecom but now Vodafone is also talking to the Ghanaian government directly.

"The bids did not meet our expectations. It is for that reason that we are now in one-to-one talks with prospective buyers," communications Minister Benjamin Aggrey Ntim said on the sidelines of an industry conference taking place in Cairo.

"They include the last three [bidders]… but recently we have also been talking to Vodafone, and others."
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LISBON --Portugal Telecom, SGPS, SA is still interested in bidding for the privatisation process of Ghana Telecom, Diario Economico reported.
The paper said that even though PT initially decided to not participate in the privatisation process due to the hefty price being asked by the local government, it is still interested in the process.
Separately, the paper said PT is willing to find a solution to stay in Guinea Bissau after the local government said it would step in and manage Guinea Telecom and Guinetel, after issuing a statement accusing PT of 'abandoning' the management of the two companies.