Benin Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

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Publication Date: March 2024

Report Pages: 145

Lead Analyst: Henry Lancaster

Contributing Analyst: Peter Lange

Benin secures funds to improve national fibre network

Benin’s telecom market continues to be restricted by the poor condition of the country’s fixed-line infrastructure. This has in turn hampered the development of fixed-line voice and internet services, and as a result there is negligible revenue derived from these sectors. Mobile networks account for almost all internet connections, and also carry most voice traffic. As such, it is this sector which is attracting most investment.

There is promise for considerable change in the mobile sector, which has been a duopoly between Moov and MTN since the closure of services from Glo Mobile and Libercom in 2018.

However, progress is being made in developing competition in the mobile sector. The national infrastructure provider SBIN has been licensed to provide mobile services, and in mid-2021 Sonatel Group was awarded a five-year contract to oversee progress. In May 2021 the government sought foreign companies unaffiliated with MTN Group or Maroc Telecom to bid for a fourth mobile licence.

Improved international internet connectivity has contributed to a reduction in end-user pricing, and provided the potential to transform many areas of the country’s economy, bringing a greater proportion of the population into the orbit of internet commerce and connectivity. A 2,000km fibre project started in 2016 was finally completed in mid-2021, prompting the government to secure a loan to build additional fibre infrastructure connecting four of the country’s 12 departments.

Key developments:

  • Sonatel granted five-year contract to manage the infrastructure provider SBIN and develop mobile services;
  • Government levies 5% tax on m-money services;
  • Government initiates process to licence a new MNO, secures $40 million loan to begin a fibre network project covering four departments;
  • Government launches a national interoperability platform for its smart government (Smart Gouv) program;
  • MTN Benin extends managed services partnership with Ericsson;
  • Orange commissions new connection from the ACE submarine cable, connecting Benin with Tenerife;
  • Report update includes the regulator's market data to December 2021, telcos' operating data to Q1 2022, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

MTN, Moov (Telecel), Libercom, BBCom (Bell Benin), Glo Mobile (Globacom), be.Telecoms (Bénin Télécoms, formerly OPT), Kanakoo (BeninNet), Isocel, EIT, FirstNet, Arts Bobo, Sobiex Informatique, Global Trading Agency, Afripa Telecom, Thuraya, Nitel, Suburban Telecom, CEB.

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