Sonitel

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In November of 2001, Dataport, owned by China’s ZTE and the Libyan Arab African Investment Corporation, acquired 51% stake in Sonitel, Niger's state telecoms company, for CFAfr11.7 billion (US$15.8 million). Shenzhen based ZTE Group was run by the state and was China's largest listed telecoms manufacturer. Sonitel became a state corporation in March 1997 after a merger in 1996 between Office des Postes et Télécommunications (OPT), which was responsible for local telecommunications, and Société des Télécommunications Internationales du Niger (STIN). The divestiture process of Sonitel was scheduled to commence in mid-1998 when the government of Niger issued an announcement requesting bids from consortiums to express interest for majority shareholding in Sonitel. At the time of divestiture, Sonitel had less than 20,000 fixed line customers and about 2,500 mobile subscribers under its mobile unit Sahel-Com (SahelCom). Sonitel was to retain its monopoly on the fixed telecoms network and Internet services until December 2004. Dataport had hoped to install 30,000 new fixed lines in 2003 and a further 45,000 new lines in 2004, involving an investment of US$47.2 million. By end 2005, SahelCom had about 93,000 subscribers to its GSM-900 network, representing a 27% market share. SahelCom competed with market leader Celtel Niger and Telecel Niger.