The government of Djibouti is preparing to place a 40% stake in the local public telecommunications company Djibouti Telecom on the market, supporting further pre-placement investment in network upgrading in order to be able to count on a more consistent response from financial market players.
In August this year, the government of Djibouti set a deadline of September 16 for potential investors to express their interest in obtaining a stake in the company, which represents one of the last markets in Africa where the incumbent has an effective monopoly over the telecommunications sector.
In the government statement announcing the placement of a share on the market, the Ministry of Telecommunications wanted to clarify how the government “does not consider the monopoly as an intangible dogma”, suggesting to market analysts the possibility of imminent liberalization of the sector, especially in the area of mobile telephony.
According to Agence Ecofin, Djibouti’s telecommunications company has expanded its 4G/LTE network to cover the entire territory of the capital and numerous urban areas in all five of its inland regions. Djibouti Telecom’s broadband network now extends to the Tadjourah region, including the northern road corridor to Balho.
The government says this will help Djibouti Telecom connect users in the corridor leading to Ethiopia to the Internet, with a high-speed mobile connection. In southern Djibouti, meanwhile, the operator is completing the installation of 4G technology at its existing GSM sites in the regions of As Eyla, Galileh, Goubetto and HolHoll.
