According to reports seen by BMA, France’s Orange Group is setting its sights on entering Africa’s most populous country – Nigeria.
A statement released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) stated that Orange sent a six-person team from its Middle East and Africa division led by non-executive Victoria Adefala to scout the Nigerian market for expansion opportunities.
The telecom operator would be entering a highly competitive market in Nigeria, with four other operators already grappling for power, with MTN Nigeria holding the largest market share, followed by Globacom, Airtel, and 9Mobile, respectively.
Speaking on the expansion, Adefala said, “We are here to ensure steady investment for the long term. We also want to support the vision of NCC in driving broadband penetration for a robust digital economy and leveraging local content development initiatives.”
According to reports, Orange has over 140 million connections across the 17 African markets and a single Middle East presence in Jordan, making it Africa’s second-largest telecom company behind MTN Group in terms of revenues and sheer user base size.
Adefala also said, “The large market potentials buoyed by the huge population, impressive Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figure, proximity to our operations in the neighbouring African countries, as well as the appreciable friendly operating environment are great motivators for our expansion plan into the Nigerian telecom market.”
Adefala further stated that while no specific project is on the table, Orange would continue to study any opportunity that could create value for the Group and the Nigerian market.
