• Niger Télécoms seeks government support to regain declining market share
• Operator holds 5.24% mobile market amid Airtel, Moov dominance
• Government conditions support on governance reforms and turnaround plan

Niger Télécoms, Niger's state-owned telecommunications operator, is seeking government support to reverse years of declining market share.

Company executives raised their concerns on Wednesday during a visit by Adji Ali Salatou, minister of Communication and New Information Technologies.

A delicate position amid stiff competition

Niger Télécoms is struggling to compete with Airtel and Moov Africa. According to data from the Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et de la poste (ARCEP), the operator had 908,692 mobile subscribers at end-June 2025, representing a market share of 5.24%. At end-December 2021, it had 1.2 million subscribers.

Over the same period, Airtel grew from 6 million to 8.09 million subscribers, while Moov Africa expanded from 3.2 million to 4.1 million.

On the mobile internet segment, Niger Télécoms had 236,025 subscribers at end-June 2025, giving it a 3% market share. It had 288,601 subscribers at end-December 2021. Airtel, meanwhile, grew from 3.4 million to 4.8 million subscribers over the period, ending with a market share of 58%.

Niger Télécoms nonetheless dominates the fixed-line market. In 2024, it held 117,297 of the country’s 117,563 fixed-line subscribers, with Zamani as its only competitor in that segment. On fixed internet, the state operator controlled 27,311 of the country’s 30,080 subscribers.

Executives are asking the government to help recover receivables and move forward with major infrastructure projects already planned. During his visit, Salatou identified several issues, including investment decisions poorly suited to the company's needs, financial imbalances, and weak staff engagement with the company’s objectives.

Director General Abdourahamane Amadou said he remained convinced that “Niger Télécoms has all the assets to become the spearhead of digital development in Niger,” even as the company continues to miss its targets.

Government support conditional on reforms

For now, authorities are proceeding cautiously. Salatou proposed a series of reforms to the company’s leadership, including a turnaround plan and a revision of its governance structure. Government support, he said, would only be considered once those steps had been taken.

Niger’s authorities announced in August 2023 a proposed merger between Niger Télécoms and Zamani Telecom. The private operator was created following the 2019 acquisition of Orange Niger by Nigerien businessman Mohamed Rissa and Senegalese investor Moctar Thiam, and is itself struggling in the Nigerien telecoms market.

“This project will bring together two strengths: Zamani, with around 800 sites, and Niger Télécoms, with 200 sites, for a total of 1,000 sites, not to mention Niger Télécoms’ fiber-optic network. If we manage to combine these two companies, we believe we will have a large state company in which the state holds a majority stake,” said Sidi Mohamed Rahilou, then minister of Communication, Posts and the Digital Economy.

Rahilou said at the time that discussions were ongoing and that further reflection was needed to bring the merger to fruition. Niger’s authorities have provided no update on its progress since then.

Isaac K. Kassouwi