S.Africa government to sell shares in MTN to black investors

(Reuters) - A fund controlled by the South African government will sell about 11.7 million shares in mobile phone operator MTN to black investors for 931 million rand, the fund and MTN said on Monday.

The National Empowerment Fund, an arm of the Department of Trade and Industry that aims to redress the economic imbalances of apartheid, will sell the shares to black individuals and investment groups for 79.61 rand each -- a 20 percent discount to the 99.51 rand 30-day average on July 20.


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BHP Billiton, MTN lift S.African stocks higher

(Reuters) - South Africa's blue chip Top-40 index ended in positive territory on Thursday, led by miner BHP Billiton and mobile phone group MTN, as commodity prices rose and the rand currency firmed.

The Top-40 index closed 0.38 percent firmer at 25,666 points, ending a five-day losing streak, while the broader All-share index closed 0.42 percent higher at 28,402 points.


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MTN mulls building fixed network in South Africa

(Reuters) - African mobile operator MTN may build its own fixed-line network in South Africa to trim the levies it has to pay former monopoly Telkom to use its backbone and to meet demand for Internet access.

MTN's new head of southern and east Africa, Tim Lowry, said the company had paid about 10 million rand to build a pilot fibre optic cable linking Johannesburg's business hubs and may expand this to other key areas.


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