Note from Nairametrics: Our editors understand a previous version of this article include portions that were factually incorrect. We have reached out to the authors and they have sent in an updated article which is now published below.
Revised Opinion Article: France’s largest Telco, Orange is reportedly making a play to enter two of Africa’s biggest markets, Nigeria and South Africa. Reports say Orange CEO, Stephane Richard said the company is looking to widen its footprint in Africa by establishing a presence in these countries, but this might take a few months.
This reports begs the question…
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What could this mean For Nigeria’s Resident Telcos?
- Competition – when this happens, they will be joining as a 5th major Telco company. This brings license revenue for the Nigerian government, increases product offering for consumers, and potentially drives prices down for consumers.
- Customers – if well-positioned, they could go after a new set of customers by offering new packages that are more attractive in terms of pricing and other value proposition.
- Consolidation- the entrance may bring out new M&A activities in the space, as it may decide to acquire an existing player in the market. It is common knowledge that a few of the existing players have had their fair share of financial trouble in the past few years
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With over 266 million customers and about 150,000 employees worldwide, Orange has the financial muscle and manpower to be a major player in the Nigerian market. This potential move could result in the creation of new jobs or resulting in employees of existing Telcos moving from their current positions to work with Orange depending on the proposed value
Nonetheless, with this move into the country, Orange will definitely bring in fresh and much-needed competition to the Nigerian telecom sector. Also, the payment space could also see a significant impact on mobile money users in every nook and cranny of the country. Everyone knows Nigeria has a consistently growing payments market space and this expansion plans maybe with that in focus.
Also, Orange has a payment system- Orange Pay that seems to have gained significant traction. No doubt they will easily fit right into the growing payments space in Nigeria; existing players may also need to step up their offerings to secure their place in the market.