African mobile market: How far can Yas take Axian in its expansion?

The Madagascar-based Axian Group has announced the rebranding of its mobile network operators in Madagascar, Comoros, Senegal, Togo, and Tanzania under the unified Yas brand.  Logo of Axian’s new mobile unified brand Yas Originally focused on its home market, Axian Telecom has steadily expanded its footprint across Africa in recent years. Operating in nine countries, Axian’s telecom division spans diverse segments, including mobile network operations and infrastructure development through its subsidiary, TowerCo of Africa. Mobile services remain the core of Axian’s business with 42.9 million subscribers as of Q3 2024. The rapid increase of its customer base positions it among the top 10 mobile groups in SSA and as a key player in Africa’s telecom landscape. In its recent reports Axian telecom shared total revenue figures increasing by over 30% YoY to reach just over US$ 1 billion for the first nine months of 2024.  Axian Telecom: From local operator to pan-African group  In Madagascar, Axian leads the telecom market through its flagship brand, Telma. Over the past six years, Telma has added over 10 million new mobile subscribers, outpacing competitors Airtel and Orange, which have struggled to achieve comparable growth. At the end of 2018, Telma served 3.2 million mobile subscribers, ahead of Airtel with 2.8 million and Orange with 2.1 million. By Q3 2024, Telma’s subscriber base had surged to 14.6 million, accounting for a dominant 68% of Madagascar’s 21.5 million mobile users. Madagascar’s telecom market presents both opportunities and significant hurdles. While mobile penetration remains relatively low at 66% as of Q3 2024, offering room for growth, revenue prospects are tempered by systemic challenges. The nation’s energy crisis, with less than one-third of the population connected to the power grid, limits both infrastructure expansion and consumer adoption of advanced services. The situation with 5G exemplifies these difficulties. Telma, Axian’s Malagasy operator, briefly launched commercial 5G services in 2020, only to shut them down under regulatory orders. This setback highlights unresolved technical issues, particularly in spectrum allocation, which continue to hinder progress in deploying advanced connectivity solutions. While these challenges underscore the complexities of advancing Madagascar’s telecom landscape, Axian’s ambitions have extended beyond its home market. The group began its international expansion in 2015, entering the French overseas territories in the Indian Ocean. This marked the first step in a broader strategy to establish a presence across Africa. Axian indeed had the opportunity to acquire Telecom Réunion-Mayotte and its mobile operations under the brand Free. A few months later the group entered Comoros with its flagship brand Telma. In 2018 Axian entered its first continental africa mobile market through the co-acquisition of Tigo Senegal by partnering with the French Telco businessman Xavier Niel.  In 2019 Axian acquired the...