Djibouti Telecoms Market Report - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Djibouti government confirms plan to privatise the telecom sector

To date, Djibouti remains one of the last bastions where the national telco has a monopoly on all telecom services, including fixed lines, mobile, internet, and broadband. The lack of competition to Djibouti Telecom for such services has meant that the market has not lived up to its potential. Despite the country benefitting from its location as a hub for international submarine cables, and with Djibouti Telecom being a partner in at least eight of them, prices for telecom services remain relatively high, and out of reach for a number of customers, weighing on market advancement.

The government has long harboured plans to privatise Djibouti Telecom, though thus far such plans have been delayed repeatedly. Nevertheless, it has been encouraged by the experience of neighbouring Ethiopia, which recently licensed the Global Partnership for Ethiopia consortium (controlled by Safaricom) and so broke the monopoly held by Ethio Telecom. The Djibouti government is aiming to sell a minority stake in the incumbent telco (retaining some control of decisions) while securing the financial backing and the management acumen of a foreign operator. The scheme is part of a larger plan to modernise the country's economy more generally. The state expects to conduct of a sale of up to 40% of the company to an international investor by end-2022.

Key Developments:

• 2Africa cable lands in Djibouti;
• Djibouti Telecom builds a new landing station, becomes a partner in the Sea-Me-We-6 submarine system;
• Government confirms plan to sell a minority stake in Djibouti Telecom, approves draft law governing the process for the sale;
• Djibouti Internet Exchange (DjIX) joins the African IXP Association;
• Djibouti becomes the 10th member state of the Digital Cooperation Organization;

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