It is the smallest of the country’s four main operators and shrinking; the deal has been approved by regulators
Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services (EMTS) which operates under the 9Mobile brand has a new owner, according to local media. The deal has gained approvals from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
It has also been approved by the African Export Import Bank (AFREXIM), which is the main lender to EMTS, which is not having the best of times.
The new owner, LH Telecoms Ltd, is registered in the UK. It has acquired a 95.5% stake in exchange for capital investment. No financial details have been made public. The new owner has appointed an experienced new board with Obafemi Banigbe, a veteran of the African mobile market with 24-year track record, as the new CEO.
9Mobile was formerly part of the Etisalat group, but the group exited Nigeria seven years ago and the operator evolved to become 9Mobile. According to Reuters, the Nigerian regulators intervened back in 2017 to save Etisalat Nigeria from collapse after it failed to renegotiate a $1.2 billion loan. It remains the smallest of the main four operators in the country, having failed to make much ground on its bigger rivals – MTN Nigeria (the biggest with more than 83 million subscribers), Airtel and Glo Mobile.
Its new owners will have their work cut out. In recent months, it is thought that 9Mobile has shrunk further, falling from a market share of about 6% with 13.7 million customers at the end of last September. According to 9Mobile is the smallest operator in Nigeria with around 11.3 million mobile users at the end of June 2024, according to Omdia, this has since fallen to about 11.7 million now.