Niger - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Niger - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Niger’s Zamani Telecom boosts investment under new ownership

Zamani Telecom was majority-owned by Orange Group before the Group sold its stake to its junior partner Zamani Com. Formerly operating as Orange Niger before a rebranding exercise in December 2020, the company had endured strained relations with the government and for several years, culminating in the company requesting a settlement in early 2019 to avoid bankruptcy.

Aside from these difficulties, the sale to Zamani Com was also motivated by the poor market environment. However, shortly after the sale, Zamani Com began investing XOF31 billion to upgrade network infrastructure. This has enabled it to fast-track LTE deployment in many areas of the country.

With Niger having very poor fixed-line infrastructure, the mobile market accounts for most voice and data connections. Mobile broadband has been slow to develop thus far, with networks having been based on GSM and 3G. Thus so the impetus to develop LTE will go far to improving access speeds for consumers.

In addition, the new fibre networks connecting the country to Burkina Faso and Chad will help reduce wholesale prices, and so also the retail price paid by end-users.