Vodacom in talks for Malawi telecom stake

South Africa’s Vodacom is in talks to buy a stake in mobile operator Telekom Networks Malawi, the Daily Times newspaper said on Monday, citing unidentified sources.

Vodacom, which is majority owned by Britian’s Vodafone, had previously shown interest in TNM, the paper quoted the sources as saying. TMN has since streamlined some of its businesses to bring them closer in line with how Vodacom operates, the sources said.

TNM officials were not immediately available for comment.

Vodacom’s CEO for international operations, Johan Dennelind, said in a statement the company would look at expansion opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa, but declined to comment on specific countries or companies.

Vodacom is the dominant mobile carrier in South Africa, but is dwarfed on the continent by rival MTN Group.

In addition to its home market, it has operations in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Lesotho.

Malawi has a population of 13-million people who rely heavily on mobile phones for communication.—Reuters