Indian conglomerate Essar Group has shelved plans to enter Uganda and Congo, but has denied media reports that it is planning to exit Africa altogether by selling its Kenyan mobile business. Reuters reports that Essar agreed a deal two years ago to acquire operators Warid Telecom Uganda and Warid Congo from their owner, the UAE-based Dhabi Group. Essar had not disclosed how much it was paying for the stake but the two firms are thought to have an enterprise value of US$318 million. “It was mutually decided between the partners – Essar and Warid Group – not to proceed with the deal closure as certain condition precedents pertaining to government clearance were not met,” Essar said in a statement. The assets are to now be returned to Warid.

However, Essar denied reports in India’s Economic Times this week that it was also looking to sell-off its Kenya business for around US$300 million. “Essar remains committed to the African market and is satisfied with its operations in Kenya,” it said in a statement. Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper says that Essar had approached rival Indian firm Bharti about merging Essar’s Kenyan business – known as ‘yu’ – with Bharti’s recently-acquired unit in the country (the former Zain Kenya). However, Bharti reportedly declined the offer and Essar is thought to have had no luck drumming up interest among other African operators. In March, Essar agreed to sell its 33 percent stake in Vodafone Essar – India’s third-largest operator – to majority partner Vodafone for US$5 billion.