(Ecofin Agency) - Tigo Senegal which now belongs to SAGA AFRICA HOLDINGS LIMITED, a joint venture of Teyliom Telecom, NJJ and Sofima, finally acquires 4G license.

On December 4, 2018, Tigo Senegal’s managing director Mass Thiam signed a concession and service agreement for this mobile technology with the managing director of the telecom regulator ARTP.  

For the license, Tigo Senegal disbursed XOF27 billion. The telecom company is getting this license three years after it was put up for sale by the government (on November 15, 2015) at a reserve price of XOF30 billion ; a price which was, by the way, the reason for the company’s delay in acquiring this licence.

The former owner of Tigo Senegal, Millicom International Cellular (MIC), deemed the reserve price too high; same for its competitors Sonatel and Expresso which boycotted the licence.   

But, in June 2016, Sonatel, a subsidiary of French operator Orange, reached an agreement with the government for the license and a renewal of its concession for XOF100 billion.

Tigo Senegal is getting this license more than two years after Orange which has been offering the service to Senegalese residents since July 2016.  

 "To talk of a delay is maybe exagerated insofar as we are now the owner of a 3G licence which lets us access the whole technology and also offer rewarding user experience", Mass Thiam declared during a press briefing about the delay in acquiring the 4G license.