Niger's military council proposes merger between Niger, Zamani Telecoms

The military council of Niger's communication, posts and digital economy minister, Sidi Mohamed Rahilou, has proposed a merger between state-owned Niger Telecoms and mobile operator Zamani Telecom, formerly known as Orange Niger, during a recent visit to the companies.

According to Ecofin Agency, Rahilou said that if the merger goes ahead, the State of Niger will have a majority stake in the combined entity.

For now, Niger Telecoms is fully owned by the Nigerien government while Zamani Telecom is owned by Mohamed Rissa, who is a Nigerien, alongside a Senegalese national Moctar Thiam.

The proposed merger comes a month after the Presidential Guard in Niger launched a coup and detained President Mohamed Bazoum, declaring a new military government and appointing new ministers.

Niger's mobile market mix

The planned merger between Niger Telecoms and Zamani Telecoms is in line with the newly formed government's ambitions to reinforce its position in the national telecom market.

Niger Telecoms was established in 2016 from the successful merger of the Nigerien Telecommunications Company (Sonitel) and its mobile subsidiary, Sahelian Communication Company (SahelCom).

The planned merger between Niger Telecoms and Zamani Telecoms is in line with the newly formed government's ambitions to reinforce its position in the national telecom market. (Source: Image by wirestock on Freepik)

It will be interesting to see how the proposed merger will affect the country's subscribers. According to market research company Omdia, a sister company of Connecting Africa, Niger Telecoms is the smallest operator in the country with just 350,500 estimated subscribers at the end of the second quarter of 2023. Therefore, merging with Zamani Telecoms, the second largest operator in Niger, would be beneficial to Niger Telecoms. Omdia further reports that Zamani Telecoms had an estimated 5.5 million subscribers at the end of the second quarter of 2023.

Zamani Telecoms' subscriber base is beaten by Airtel Niger, which had just over 7.2 million subscribers over the same period. Moov Africa Niger sits firmly as the third largest operator in the country with 3 million subscribers.

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*Top image source: Image by www.slon.pics on Freepik