Middle Eastern cellco Etisalat is to sell its operations in French-speaking West Africa to Maroc Telecom, the Moroccan operator in which it is acquiring a majority stake. The share purchase agreement will see UAE-based Etisalat sell Atlantique Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary operating under the Moov brand in Benin, Central African Republic, Gabon, the Ivory Coast, Niger and Togo. The sale to Maroc Telecom also includes Prestige Telecom, an Ivory Coast-based company providing IT services to Etisalat’s operations in the region. Maroc Telecom itself operates in its home country as well as Gabon, Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania, so the reorganization will generate efficiencies of scale, and a larger procurement and roaming ecosystem, across north and west Africa. The total…