India’s The Economic Times claims that the Essar Group is seeking to merge its telecoms licence in Uganda with the operations of Warid Telecom. Warid, owned by the UAE-based Dhabi Group, launched GSM wireless services in February 2008 and now boasts a subscriber base of around 1.7 million. Essar, which bagged a Ugandan wireless network operator concession in June 2009, wants to combine forces with Warid and take a majority stake in the merged entity. The newspaper report also suggests that Essar is planning a similar tie-up with Warid in the Republic of Congo.