Vodafone, Bharti Struggle to Squeeze Profit From African Deals

For Vodafone Group Plc, Bharti Airtel Ltd. and other phone companies with more than $90 billion invested in Africa, making money from each user in the world’s fastest-growing market is turning into the biggest challenge.

The number of operators is prompting a race to the bottom on call rates. In Tanzania, which has seven phone companies, prices have fallen 90 percent over the past 18 months. Companies also face among the world’s highest “churn” rates, with users frequently changing operators, and patchy infrastructure, all of which make returns on investment difficult.