Telecommunications giant MTC Celtel will invest $2.5 billion in Nigeria by the end of the year, says Lars Stork, COO of Celtel Nigeria.
"The subscriber base will grow to 12 million people by the end of 2007 and we expect it to reach 19.5 million Nigerian subscribers by 2010," he says. Celtel Nigeria currently has 6.5 million subscribers.
The MTC Celtel Group entered Nigeria seven months ago with the acquisition of a 65% controlling stake in Vee Networks (Vmobile Nigeria) now Celtel Nigeria.
"Since Celtel's entry into the Nigerian market, we have experienced exponential growth of 120 000 new subscribers a week."
The company's primary objective in the next few years is to improve the quality of the network, says Stork. "Through better network quality, we will be able to sustain the growth we are experiencing."
The company has said it will reduce call tariffs. Stork says this will also increase competition in Nigeria.
Celtel's expansion drive in Nigeria is part of the MTC Celtel acceleration, consolidation and expansion growth strategy, revealed earlier this year. Celtel and its parent company MTC recently merged into one group, conveying strong growth plans for Africa.
Dr Saad Al Barrak, MD and deputy chairman of MTC, has been on a roadshow in Africa, visiting Nigeria, Tanzania and more recently Uganda, promoting telecoms growth on the continent.
MTC Celtel has operations in 14 African countries and employs over 12 000 people on the continent. MTC also operates in six Middle Eastern countries.
Through implementation of MTC's new strategy, the company plans to become a company with a market capitalisation of US$30 billion by 2011, exceeding 70 million customers. The company hopes to attain $6 billion in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, according to the MTC Web site..
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