Niger

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Niger is one of the largest countries in West Africa but also one of the poorest countries in the world. Similar to many African countries; a lack of fixed telecoms infrastructure has led to growth in mobile services. Niger’s mobile penetration sits at over 40% in 2017, while fixed broadband, in comparison has a long way to go with only around 2% penetration.

However recent investments in improving fibre-optic infrastructure in Niger will lead to improved internet networks and access. Specifically, in late 2016 Niger received a boost when the African Development Bank (ADB) awarded €43.9 in funding to build-out the Trans-Saharan Dorsal optical fibre (SDR) network.

In late 2016 the Niger government announced it would merge it state-owned fixed line operator, Sonitel, with its wholly owned mobile unit, Sahel-Com, to form a new entity known as Niger Telecom. The merged company hopes to be more efficient through the sharing of resources and infrastructure. It is also hoped that Niger Telecom will be able to operate more competitively as its mobile unit currently holds less than 5% market share.

Last week, Niger’s government announced that it would merge two state-owned telecommunications companies – “Sonitel, which operates landlines, and Sahelcom, a mobile operator” – to form one company, Niger Telecom. Sahelcom currently competes with Bharti Airtel (an Indian company), Orange (a French company), and Moov (a subsidiary of Atlantique, which is itself a subsidiary of Emirati-owned Etisalat).* The merger of Sonitel and Sahelcom has been in the works for at least a year, and is part of a longer story involving the failed privatization of Sonitel (including a failed sale to a Libyan company in 2011).

A few more details about the merger can be found in the official readout (French) of last week’s cabinet meeting in Niger. Perhaps most importantly, the Ministry of Communication envisions that the merger will “assure optimal and rational management of the resources of the two companies” and “make the national public operator more attractive.”

Needless to say, there have been waves upon waves of privatization of state-run companies in Africa in the past thirty-five years and more. It will be interesting to see whether Niger can meet its goal of making state-owned telecoms more efficient and competitive. That will be an uphill climb, though: Jeune Afrique (French) says that both Sonitel and Sahelcom are deeply in the red, and that Sahelcom lags far behind its competitors in terms of subscribers. Out of 7 million mobile subscribers in Niger, Jeune Afrique gives the following breakdown of market share: Sahelcom/Niger Telecom will have a lot of catching up to do.
 * Sahelcom: 347,000 subscribers
 * Bharti Airtel: 3.5 million subscribes or 58.62% market share
 * Orange: 1.67 million subscribers or 27.5% market share
 * Maroc Telecom/Moov: 604,499 subscribers or 9.96% or market share.