Despite being a major supplier of telecom gear in Africa, China-based ZTE has plans to exit the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).ZTE is selling its 51 percent stake in Congo China Telecom, the DRC's fourth largest telecom company, jointly owned with the DRC government, which has a 49 percent stake in the company.The DRC government is also considering selling its own stake in Congo China Telecom as part of a broader effort to divest some assets and transform more state-owned companies into private businesses.Operation problems are said to be the major cause for ZTE's exiting the DRC mobile market, which was being used as a stepping stone for further expansion into the regional market.

A number of international telecom operators including South Africa's MTN and France Telecom are all planning to move into the DRC market, which has a huge potential for growth in mobile phones as most towns and communities are not yet connected to mobile communication network.
With a population of about 70 million and a mobile penetration of 17 percent, DRC is one of Africa's largest and least developed countries because of long years of civil war.
While MTN wants to increase its geographical footprint, France Telecom hopes moving into DRC will help cushion the impact of lower revenue in Europe since the DRC telecom market is by far less mature compared to other markets in African countries.
France Telecom already operates in a number of African countries including Egypt, Cameroon, Kenya, Ivory Coast and Egypt.
France Telecom is the favorite to buy ZTE's stake China Congo Telecom.  Later, the company is expected to buy the government stake in the company to own it 100 percent. The combined transaction represents about $425 million.
ZTE, whose main business in Africa is supplying telecom gear, has not said why it is exiting the DRC market.
But telecom analyst believes the exit of ZTE from the telecom market has to do with problems in supplying telecom equipment to the DRC market.
Mervin Miemoukanda, a research analyst at Frost and Sullivan (South Africa), said ZTE had difficulties supplying telecom equipment to other operators in the DRC because it was viewed as a competitor in the telecom market. As a result, Miemoukanda said the company could not perform well on its equipment business.
"Initially, ZTE wanted to play a major role in the telecom sector but they were not able to supply telecom equipment to other operators. DRC was also used as a pilot project for ZTE in Africa," said Miemoukanda.
Miemoukanda said while ZTE was pulling out of the DRC telecom market, the company will on the other hand be a force in supplying telecom equipment in the country.
Miemoukanda said ZTE will likely not be entering any telecom market in the region.