Africell Plans to Invest $150 Million to Upgrade Uganda Operations -
Date : 11/17/2014 @ 4:15AM
Source : Dow Jones News
Stock : Orange (ORAN)
KAMPALA, Uganda--Lebanon-based telecommunications company Africell plans to invest up to $150 million to improve the network of its recently acquired Ugandan unit, Orange Uganda Ltd., over the next three years, a company executive said Monday.
Africell, a market leader in Sierra Leone and Gambia, plans to achieve a 20% market share in Uganda, a country of around 37 million people, over the next four to five years, the company's chairman and chief executive, Ziad Dalloul, said in an interview.
Last week, Africell completed a long-awaited acquisition of French telecom giant Orange's unit in Uganda. It hopes a capital injection of up to $150 million will enable it to turn around the company's underperforming assets in Uganda's fast-growing telecom market.
By upgrading its network, the company plans to boost its data business, an area where it says it has an edge over its bigger competitors, such as South Africa's MTN group and India's Bharti Airtel. The new investment would also enable it to attract more voice subscribers so it can reach its target of at least 6 million by 2019, Mr. Dalloul said .
"The demand for data is exponentially increasing, in terms of speed and coverage. You need to offer high speed data everywhere including the inland parts of the country, and this is quite challenging with the existing infrastructure." he said. "We will be adding more weight to capture more of the voice market while defending the very nice share of data that already exists."
Rising economic growth and increased smartphone penetration across Africa continue to drive up demand for data services, as more young Africans get online, analysts have said.
Uganda has total of around 19 million phone subscribers, with mobile phone penetration growing at around 10% a year over the past five years, according to the state regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission.
Africell, which launched its operations in 2001 in Gambia now has a 61% market share in Sierra Leone and Gambia, and has over 5 million subscribers in Congo. The Ugandan acquisition has added 700,000 new subscribers to the company, bringing its active subscriber total to 11 million on the continent.
It expects to have 15 million mobile subscribers across its operations on the continent next year, still small when compared with giants such Vodacom's South African unit, which has over 50 million customers in Africa. However, with the company's annual revenue, currently around $270 million, growing at around 30% a year, Africell is one of the fastest-growing telecommunications companies on the continent, analysts said.
Date : 11/17/2014 @ 4:15AM
Source : Dow Jones News
Stock : Orange (ORAN)
KAMPALA, Uganda--Lebanon-based telecommunications company Africell plans to invest up to $150 million to improve the network of its recently acquired Ugandan unit, Orange Uganda Ltd., over the next three years, a company executive said Monday.
Africell, a market leader in Sierra Leone and Gambia, plans to achieve a 20% market share in Uganda, a country of around 37 million people, over the next four to five years, the company's chairman and chief executive, Ziad Dalloul, said in an interview.
Last week, Africell completed a long-awaited acquisition of French telecom giant Orange's unit in Uganda. It hopes a capital injection of up to $150 million will enable it to turn around the company's underperforming assets in Uganda's fast-growing telecom market.
By upgrading its network, the company plans to boost its data business, an area where it says it has an edge over its bigger competitors, such as South Africa's MTN group and India's Bharti Airtel. The new investment would also enable it to attract more voice subscribers so it can reach its target of at least 6 million by 2019, Mr. Dalloul said .
"The demand for data is exponentially increasing, in terms of speed and coverage. You need to offer high speed data everywhere including the inland parts of the country, and this is quite challenging with the existing infrastructure." he said. "We will be adding more weight to capture more of the voice market while defending the very nice share of data that already exists."
Rising economic growth and increased smartphone penetration across Africa continue to drive up demand for data services, as more young Africans get online, analysts have said.
Uganda has total of around 19 million phone subscribers, with mobile phone penetration growing at around 10% a year over the past five years, according to the state regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission.
Africell, which launched its operations in 2001 in Gambia now has a 61% market share in Sierra Leone and Gambia, and has over 5 million subscribers in Congo. The Ugandan acquisition has added 700,000 new subscribers to the company, bringing its active subscriber total to 11 million on the continent.
It expects to have 15 million mobile subscribers across its operations on the continent next year, still small when compared with giants such Vodacom's South African unit, which has over 50 million customers in Africa. However, with the company's annual revenue, currently around $270 million, growing at around 30% a year, Africell is one of the fastest-growing telecommunications companies on the continent, analysts said.
