Will African market be a mirage for Bharti!

Bharti's plan to enter the African market again may hit a roadblock with Econet Wireless, a shareholder in Zain's Nigeria operations, today saying it was pursuing arbitration against the Kuwait-based firm.

Bharti had earlier tried twice to acquire the African telecom giant MTN through a complex financial mechanism but talks failed on each occasion.

"Econet Wireless can confirm that it is currently pursuing arbitration proceedings against Caltel (now Zain) and others to challenge the transaction by which Caltel purported to purchase a majority stake in Vee Networks, now Zain Nigeria," Econet said in a statement here.

Bharti spokesperson declined to comment on Econet's statement.

Indian telecom firm will be paying $9 billion besides a debt liability of $1.7 billion to buy African assets of Zain other than in Sudan and Moroco.

Under the terms of the original Vee Networks shareholders agreement, Econet had a right of first refusal over the stake, a right which was denied in 2006, leading to arbitration between the two.

In the proceedings, Econet made an application for interim measures to prohibit Caltel (Zain), from selling, transferring, disposing of, dealing with or otherwise encumbering the disputed stake until such time as the Arbitral Tribunal has published its final award, in response to which Zain provided certain undertakings to preserve the status quo.