Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) said it had entered into a strategic partnership with expanding West African mobile operator Atlantique Telecom and acquired a 50 per cent stake in the group.

The announcement made in Paris confirmed that the deal gives Etisalat a 10-year contract to manage the six-country operations of Atlantique Telecom.
Atlantique Telecom owns majority shareholdings in mobile operators in Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Niger, Togo and Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Cost).
“This is a huge success for our efforts to roll out our premium services across the region,” Etisalat International CEO Obaid bin Mes’har said. The corporation is rapidly becoming a leading international player through its investments abroad. Its groundbreaking investment in the Etihad Etisalat consortium that led to the launch of Mobily and a multi-billion-dollar Islamic funding exercise in Saudi Arabia confirmed its ability to compete against other top players in international markets.