Telecoms have been the undisputed success story in Africa over the last few years, kickstarting the decade of growth that the continent experienced before the world economy derailed. For some, seeing the huge returns made by cellphone operator pioneers, it was proof of Africa’s macrostabilisation. Despite the ‘political risk’ tag so often slapped on, here were investments that were paying off from Dakar to Khartoum, Cairo to Johannesburg.
For others the telecoms boom is a sign that the informal economy is strong enough to sustain a tertiary sector in services, something that nobody previously had thought possible. Africans, so the thinking went, don’t have money to spend on phone calls. Now that the pay-as-you-go business case has been made by the stellar profits of the telecoms operators, other providers, from health to banking, are seeing Africa for what it really is: a market of 900 million people, all willing and able to pay for services. All you need is a smart way of accessing the bottom of the pyramid.
Though some operators have reported a slowdown in earnings in recent months, for others around the globe the credit crunch does not appear to have registered – certainly not slowing down their appetite for expansion.
The biggest story has been the talk of Kuwaiti operator Zain trying to offload its Africa operations, known previously as Celtel. Frontrunner in that race is Vivendi, a telecommunications and media company that operates a cellular licence in France called SFR among other things. Were Vivendi to be successful, it would be the second major French telecoms operator in Africa alongside Orange Telecom.
Africa’s other titan is the subject of the other major bid of the middle of the year. After the speculation last year about which Indian telecoms company would eventually buy South African giant MTN, Bharti has re-ignited its bid to escape slow saturation in the Indian market. Africa’s largest operator would be a prize indeed, the sweet spots being the huge Nigerian market (MTN Nigeria has been the highest earning subsidiary for the group) and the more developed South African market, which is already moving quickly into the data space, providing mobile internet access with dongles plugged into computers on the go.
Internet is certainly coming to Africa through mobile connectivity. This is being boosted by the arrival of several different undersea fibreoptic links to Asia and Europe. First on the scene, Seacom’s 1.28 tbps cable is set to begin service in July 2009, bringing significantly cheaper and quicker internet access to East and Southern Africa.
Currently much of Kenya’s internet arrives over satellite signals. In February, Seacom CEO Brian Herlihy was promising that for a wholesale connection providing 9.6gbps of bandwidth, the rate would be 267 rand/Mb/month. That compares more than favourably with satellite (230 000 rand/Mb/month) and the SAT3 cable (3,500-11,000 rand/Mb/month).
Below is a ranking of the continent’s largest telecoms companies from our annual list of the Top 500 Companies in Africa. Figures are based on firms’ 2007 performance.Rank 08
Rank 07
Company name
Country
Sector
Turnover (Thds $)
Turnover change
Net profits
5
8
MTN GROUP
SOUTH AFRICA
TELECOMS
10 829 117
46,04%
1 764 164
7
7
TELKOM
SOUTH AFRICA
TELECOMS
8 332 994
12,32%
1 209 865
9
11
VODACOM GROUP
SOUTH AFRICA
TELECOMS
7 132 723
20,62%
1 178 123
15
–
VODACOM SOUTH AFRICA
SOUTH AFRICA
TELECOMS
6 392 843
–
1 172 008
20
18
ORASCOM TELECOM
EGYPT
TELECOMS
4 905 049
9,80%
2 175 528
25
24
MTN SOUTH AFRICA
SOUTH AFRICA
TELECOMS
4 177 971
18,28%
819 013
31
35
MAROC TÉLÉCOM
MOROCCO
TELECOMS
3 604 489
34,04%
ND
41
48
MTN NIGERIA
NIGERIA
TELECOMS
2 998 013
40,00%
629 953
64
63
TELECOM EGYPT
EGYPT
TELECOMS
1 821 551
12,10%
435 226
65
66
ORASCOM TÉLÉCOM ALGÉRIE
ALGERIA
TELECOMS
1 755 856
14,67%
ND
77
83
MOBINIL
EGYPT
TELECOMS
1 494 783
33,21%
332 734
87
79
ALGÉRIE TÉLÉCOM
ALGERIA
TELECOMS
1 307 040
10,59%
15 560
101
–
ZAIN NIGERIA (EX-CELTEL)
NIGERIA
TELECOMS
1 171 900
–
83 200
104
111
SOC. NAT. DE TÉLÉCOM. DU SÉNÉGAL
SENEGAL
TELECOMS
1 132 979
37,51%
361 906
111
88
VODAFONE EGYPT TELECOMMS*
EGYPT
TELECOMS
1 048 579
–
300 728
118
129
SAFARICOM
KENYA
TELECOMS
970 858
41,60%
219 154
129
104
TUNISIE TÉLÉCOM*
TUNISIA
TELECOMS
884 793
–
126 888
145
–
ZAIN SUDAN (EX-SUD MOBILE)
SUDAN
TELECOMS
792 500
–
263 200
176
156
MÉDI TÉLÉCOM
MOROCCO
TELECOMS
644 912
16,96%
ND
183
276
SUDANESE TELECOM CO.
SUDAN
TELECOMS
621 103
150,73%
216 394
187
–
MTN GHANA
GHANA
TELECOMS
599 306
–
137 390
197
282
TUNISIANA
TUNISIA
TELECOMS
558 616
133,97%
ND
228
199
ORANGE CÔTE D’IVOIRE
CÔTE D IVOIRE
TELECOMS
424 267
10,27%
78 600
237
–
RAYA HOLDING FOR TELECOMM.
EGYPT
ELECTRICAL
414 314
–
17 309
238
270
SONATEL MOBILES
SENEGAL
TELECOMS
408 671
59,73%
ND
258
259
WATANIYA TELECOM ALGÉRIE
ALGERIA
TELECOMS
371 126
35,52%
-35 220
260
241
MTN CAMEROUN
CAMEROON
TELECOMS
367 756
23,12%
77 874
268
275
VODACOM TANZANIA
TANZANIA
TELECOMS
348 584
40,25%
46 562
278
258
VODACOM CONGO
DR CONGO
TELECOMS
340 012
23,57%
11 874
279
263
MTN CÔTE D’IVOIRE
CÔTE D IVOIRE
TELECOMS
338 886
27,39%
58 776
303
426
ORANGE MALI
MALI
TELECOMS
308 153
–
158 636
306
–
MTN UGANDA
UGANDA
TELECOMS
300 838
–
54 038
311
–
ZAIN RDC (EX-CELTEL)
DR CONGO
TELECOMS
296 700
–
25 900
318
292
ORANGE CAMEROUN
CAMEROON
TELECOMS
292 600
29,47%
ND
336
297
CÔTE D’IVOIRE TÉLÉCOM
CÔTE D IVOIRE
TELECOMS
265 983
21,66%
18 054
337
–
ZAIN TANZANIE (EX-CELTEL)
TANZANIA
TELECOMS
265 000
–
52 100
347
348
NET 1 UEPS TECHNOLOGIES
SOUTH AFRICA
TELECOMS
254 056
–
86 695
348
390
PINNACLE TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS
SOUTH AFRICA
TELECOMS
254 031
66,62%
11 152
350
–
ZAIN ZAMBIE (EX-CELTEL)
ZAMBIA
TELECOMS
252 100
–
58 000
364
–
MTN SOUDAN
SUDAN
TELECOMS
238 509
–
28 278
367
338
MAURITIUS TELECOM
MAURITIUS
TELECOMS
234 921
27,93%
ND
368
–
ZAIN GABON (EX-CELTEL)
GABON
TELECOMS
233 100
–
52 800
383
–
MCEL MOÇAMBIQUE
MOZAMBIQUE
TELECOMS
223 122
–
13 322
389
–
ZAIN CONGO (EX-CELTEL)
CONGO
TELECOMS
211 300
–
66 100
403
353
DATACENTRIX HOLDINGS
SOUTH AFRICA
TELECOMS
199 419
15,45%
15 081
412
–
ZAIN KENYA (EX-CELTEL)
KENYA
TELECOMS
194 300
–
-21 700
435
395
OFF. NAT. DES TÉLÉCOMMUNICATIONS
BURKINA FASO
TELECOMS
175 164
20,99%
14 880
454
–
TOGO TÉLÉCOM
TOGO
TELECOMS
163 788
–
40 775
460
388
TELECOM NAMIBIA
NAMIBIA
TELECOMS
158 848
2,91%
-4 288
462
438
SOC. DES TÉLÉCOMS. DU MALI
MALI
TELECOMS
157 150
31,94%
ND
476
–
VOX TELECOM
SOUTH AFRICA
TELECOMS
146 586
–
8 130
498
–
MAURITEL
MAURITANIE
TELECOMS
139 168
–
ND
2007 RESULTS IN THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS – *IN ITALICS 2006 RESULTS – ND: NO DATA
Understand Africa's tomorrow... today
We believe that Africa is poorly represented, and badly under-estimated. Beyond the vast opportunity manifest in African markets, we highlight people who make a difference; leaders turning the tide, youth driving change, and an indefatigable business community. That is what we believe will change the continent, and that is what we report on. With hard-hitting investigations, innovative analysis and deep dives into countries and sectors, The Africa Report delivers the insight you need.
