Bharti Airtel has merged with Millicom’s Tigo in Ghana to become the country’s second largest mobile operator, the new company AirtelTigo said on Tuesday.

The merger, the first of its kind in Ghana, is a bid to increase share in the West African country where mobile phone use is one of the highest in Africa and competition for 37.4 million mobile phone users is fierce.

South Africa’s MTN dominates with 47.5 percent of subscribers. Others include Britain’s Vodafone, Globacom of Nigeria and Sudan’s Sudatel Expresso.

The National Communications Authority regulator granted conditional approval for the merger in September, following an agreement in March by the two companies to combine their operations.

AirtelTigo will serve around 10 million subscribers with revenues close to $300 million, it said in a statement. (Reuters)