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… What could this mean For Nigeria’s Resident Telcos?

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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

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.

SOURCE: https://nairametrics.com/2020/06/21/frances-orange-move-into-nigeria-spells-trouble-for-resident-telcos/

Let them come.

Is it not a good thing? They are highly welcomed.

Let them come oh....maybe then MTN Will stop all their unneccesary Shakara

Airtel,glo and 9mobile...na dem i dey sorry for...extinction loading.

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."

Orange Telecom should come quickly abeg! And I hope when they do come, they will give MTN and other service providers a run for their money and services,
because currently, MTN and Co charges are nothing to write home about

I don't understand, why do you all think they will be anyway different from emptyhen and others after the initial enticement of subscribers? MTN/Lonestar in Liberia provides more value for money paid & is more responsible & adheres to govt/industry laws & stipulations than their thieving counterparts in Nigeria. Why? Because they know they will be held accountable!. Note that word.

OgaVoltron:
I don't understand, why do you all think they will be anyway different from emptyhen and others after the initial enticement of subscribers? MTN/Lonestar in Liberia provides more value for money paid & is more responsible & adheres to govt/industry laws & stipulations than their thieving counterparts in Nigeria. Why? Because they know they will be held accountable!. Note that word.

Exactly! Its not about who comes around but is Government ready to put them under check?

It will take them a long time to achieve what the existing players have already achieved.

They probably have to acquire 9Mobile or another telco to give MTN and Airtel a run for their money.

The existing telcos have deployed their base stations (masts) in many remote locations across the country. They didn't achieve this overnight