Orange mulls merging unit

ORANGEwas considering merging its business in Kenya with another operator as it sought opportunities elsewhere in Africa, chief executive Stephane Richard said. The company was still in talks on entering countries including Chad, the Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone, and was looking at Algeria, Egypt and Ethiopia, Richard said in an interview on Friday in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Business Daily, a Nairobi-based newspaper, reported last week that Helios Investments, based in London, was in talks with Orange to acquire Telkom Kenya. “We have never hidden our disappointment with our presence in Kenya,” Richard said. – Bloomberg