Vodacom, South Africa’s biggest mobile operator which is half-owned by Vodafone of the UK, on Friday stepped up its plans to expand into Africa with the $700m acquisition of Gateway, a mobile network connection company that operates in 17 countries on the continent.
Peter Uys, incoming chief executive, said the purchase, to be funded with a mixture of local and foreign debt and cash, ”gives us a springboard to launch into the continent”.
