Bharti to invest $100 mln in Malawi

LILONGWE: India's Bharti Airtel will spend $100 million in the next three years on network expansion in Malawi, after sealing a deal that puts the Indian wireless phone operator in 15 African countries.

Bharti this month completed its $9 billion acquisition of African operations from Kuwait's Zain, making it the world's fifth-largest mobile phone operator by subscribers.

"We plan to invest US$ 100 million in Malawi in the next three years to improve coverage and reach out to Malawi's rural farmers ... and help the country's economy grow," Manoj Kohli the chief executive officer of Bharti Africa told a news conference.

Bharti is the leading mobile phone operator in Malawi with 2.5 million subscribers and Kohli said the company plans to increase that to 7 million.

The company competes with Telekoms Networks Malawi (TNM), a wholly Malawian-owned company and Gmobile.