Middle East and North Africa

South Africa's MTN this morning reported a strong set of financial results for the first half of the year but remained tight-lipped on its ongoing merger talks with India's Bharti.

Several leading international operators are among the 13 potential investors that have expressed interest in acquiring Nitel, the struggling state-controlled Nigerian operator.

Iran's newly-appointed minister of Communications and Information Technology has announced that the country will make yet another attempt to award its third mobile operator license, reports Cellular News, citing an article in the Tehran Times.

Shareholders in Zain have agreed to sell a 46 percent stake in the Kuwaiti-based firm to an Asian consortium that includes Indian state-owned operators MTNL and BSNL, reports the Financial Times.

Indian state-owned operators MTNL and BSNL have denied forming a consortium to buy a 46 percent stake in Zain, reports Telecompaper.

Reports this week claim that Indian mobile operator Bharti has sweetened its offer to buy a 49 percent stake in South Africa's MTN, increasing the likelihood that the two companies will reach a deal to create a global industry giant

A deal between MTN, of South Africa, and Bharti Airtel, of India, to allow the telecoms groups to exploit markets in Africa and the Middle East may be in trouble, according to a Financial Times (FT) report.