The Guinean state has taken control of the telephone operator Areeba Guinée, previously owned by the South African group MTN. Beyond the assertion of Guinea’s sovereignty over its telecommunications sector, the challenge will be to revive an operator which has fallen far behind in the modernization of its infrastructure.
In Guineathe Conakry authorities took control of the operator MTN, 21% of the country’s telecom market, without having to buy this subsidiary of the South African group, but by erasing its debt. “ When an operator does not pay for its licenses and frequencies, either its licenses and frequencies are withdrawn, or it must pay this sum, underlines Stéphane Lelux, network engineer and president of the Tactis consulting group. MTM had accumulated a debt of more than $100 million, which was converted into securities, by transferring the debt into capital for the Guinean state. »
Sovereignty ambitions
Through this quasi-nationalization of MTN Guinea, the Conakry authorities hope to realize their ambitions for sovereignty, already displayed in the aviation sector, and to rebalance a telecom market largely dominated by Orange Guinée, co-owned by Orange and Sonatel.
« The president’s ambition was to relaunch a certain number of emblematic companies for Guineans, and Guinée Télécom is one of them, explains the government spokesperson, Ousmane Gaoual Diallo. This involves bringing together, in a state entity, the management of infrastructures to have a common technological base, and a mobile operator who comes to redistribute the cards a little, in which a single operator, today, has won more 80% of the market. »
$100 million needed
Guinée Télécom and MTN could therefore merge. But it will take skills and make up for a significant delay in investments. “ Today there are less than 1 000 towers which belong to MTN, of which just under 800 are operational, remark Stéphane Lelux. Orange has 2 700 ! Today, to create an operator with national ambition compared to Orange, the only option is to invest in at least 1 000 to 1 500 new towers. Then, we will also have to invest in a new generation of network, since we would have to move from 4G to 5G. We’re talking at least $100 million. »
-Two options are possible according to the expert: financing by a new partner in the sector – Maroc Telecom, Axian or Airtel –, but which would probably require the majority of shares in Guinée Telecom, which the authorities in Conakry do not want; or a pure financial partner, plus a technical partner in a simple service contract, the long-term solution chosen in Benin by SBIN, the Beninese Digital Infrastructure Company.
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