Kuwaiti firm acquires Nigerian mobile operator

Under the deal concluded on Tuesday, Celtel offered 1.005 billion dollars for a 65 per cent equity in the Nigerian telecom firm which began operation in August 2001.

The statement said the transaction would expand Celtel’s presence to 15 countries in Africa and also help VMobile to develop and expand its network and subscriber base, which currently stands at more than five million.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country of some 130 million people, has three others operators licensed to provide digital mobile services to its communications-starved population.