France Telecom is reported to be in exclusive talks to buy a controlling stake in Congo China Telecom, the fourth largest operator in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company is eyeing the 51 percent of the operator currently owned by Chinese equipment vendor ZTE, with Bloomberg reporting that it could later take on the remaining 49 percent, which is owned by the government of the country. It was suggested that both transactions could have a combined value of EUR300 million.

France Telecom has been looking to Middle East and African markets to drive its growth, as it (and its peers) face a tougher climate in more developed European markets. According to Bloomberg, the Democratic Republic of Congo has a population of 65 million, with a mobile penetration rate of 17 percent – making it a large, but underserved, market. According to Wireless Intelligence, CCT has a customer base of 1.14 million, putting it behind market leader Airtel (5 million), Vodacom (4.5 million) and Millicom’s Tigo (2.2 million).