French telecoms giant, Orange in talks to acquire Airtel subsidiaries in Africa

French telecom giant, Orange has entered exclusive talks with Indian telecom giant, Bharti Airtel to explore the possible acquisition of its operations in Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville and Sierra Leone, according to a statement made available to TechLoy.

Although both operators say “there is no certainty of any binding agreement as a result of these discussions”, Orange CEO Stéphane Richard appears confident and optimistic. In a tweet posted on Monday, he expressed his enthusiasm for the acquisition talks.


Airtel, which entered the African region through a $10.7 billion acquisition of most of Zain’s African operations back in 2010, has reportedly been facing an uphill struggle in Africa.

If the Orange-Airtel deal falls through, it could see the French telecoms giant emerge as a strong competition for Africa’s leading telecoms operator, MTN.