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In the past two weeks we have seen movement by both Vodafone and Orange in the African cellular market. Vodafone has made a play for controlling interest in Vodacom, its South-African based joint venture with Telkom, whilst Orange has acquired 53% of HiTs Telecom Uganda with the intention of launching operations under the Orange Brand. This follows on from other recent activity in the region by both companies.

Currently, Vodafone's sole brand presence within Africa is Vodafone Egypt. It has long held a stake in Kenyan operator Safaricom but its main presence is throughout Southern Africa via its Vodacom holding. Vodafone's bid to increase its Vodacom stake from 50% to 65% pushes the likely establishment of a transcontinental Vodafone brand. This is further evidenced by the Vodafone Group's direct acquisition of Ghana Telecom in July this year.

Disparate operators across Africa with varied levels of ownership by Orange and France Telecom have recently been unified under the single Orange brand. According to WiDAR, Orange now has operations in 13 African countries, as well as a 36% stake in the Egyptian operator Mobinil. Many of these operations are in French-speaking countries such as Senegal and Cameroon. As well as Uganda, Orange has also this year made inroads into Kenya and Niger.

Past WiDAR newsletters have concentrated on the symbiotic relationship between Africa and the Middle East and growth of operators such as Zain and MTN. However, the recent activities of Vodafone and Orange show that these two Western cellular giants believe that they can occupy a significant and increasing place within this continually fast expanding market.

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