Zain, Bharti and Africa: it aint over 'till....

Last week the Kuwaiti mobile operator Zain announced it had completed the $10.7 billion sale of its African mobile operations to Bharti Airtel, an Indian mobile operator.

The announcement seemed to end a two-year saga on the future of the company, and was accompanied by some triumphant interviews in the Indian press, where Bharti management spoke proudly of their great work in wrapping up an extremely complex deal ($10.7 billion across 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa) in just 45 days - which is indeed a remarkable effort.

But like so many parts of the Zain saga, this story might not be over just yet. In Nigeria, Zain's biggest African market (and the crown jewel of the acquisition), a minority partner of the network, who claims to have right of first refusal in any deal, said that they have yet to resolve their dispute with Zain over the sale, and that the announcement of a done deal is premature. And in Tanzania, where the government previously voiced regulatory concerns, it appears that issues remain over whether the sale will be approved (the Tanzanian government says that despite the announcement, no deal has yet been cleared.)

What is clear is that for Bharti, who have announced the deal's completion and, according to Zain, handed over almost $10 billion in cash, this deal (including Nigeria and Tanzania) absolutely must go through. So they will need to do whatever is needed to pacify regulators, governments and lawsuit-wielding businessmen who can hold things up - and my guess is, that is going to cost some real money.