BMI View: Following the completion of Mobinil’s tower sale in Egypt, we expect Orange to turn its focus to completing a deal for subsidiary Sonatel’s towers in Senegal and across West Africa. While local operating risks in Senegal have likely been the cause of delays, Sonatel’s strong market position and the country’s rapidly growing data market create an attractive opportunity for one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s leading tower companies.
Why the delay?
Orange first announced that it was considering selling off Sonatel’s tower assets in Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau in 2013, but has made little progress on the plan since then.