Marten Pieters, CEO of Africa’s third-largest mobile group, Celtel International, on Friday declined to comment on the company’s growth prospects but said the company’s initial public offering (IPO) remains on track.
Pieters said that owing to the imminent IPO, Celtel is not in a position to say what its prospects and expansion plans are, as this will violate pre-listing rules.
He said plans to float the network, which has 5,2-million subscribers, during the first half on 2005 remain on track, but was unable to give any indications on when exactly the company will be listed on the London and Johannesburg bourses.
The average revenue per user declined to $21 per month during the period ended December 2004 from $25 previously, and this was ascribed to the group’s market penetration rate as well as the acquisition of Kenya’s KenCell International (now Celtel Kenya) last May. The Kenyan unit contributed 1,2-million to Celtel’s subscriber base.
The country’s market is described as sophisticated and stands in line to get general packet radio services (GPRS) in the near future, depending on the ongoing market research on that front.
South African contract and pre-paid subscribers already enjoy GPRS, while on most parts of the continent only voice mobile telephony is pervasive.
“Africa is now officially the fastest growing region — mobile penetration is still 5%,” Pieters said, adding that the group is set to capitalise on this. The low penetration rate is also evident in 10 of the 13 countries where the phone group has presence.
Pieters noted that the environment favours the move, adding: “We are not sure when it [the IPO] is and there is no statement on [the] IPO. I’d say look at the solid set of numbers as a basis of an IPO.”
Last December, the operator completed a $190-million syndicated loan facility for the parent company, of which $117-million was refinancing and the remainder for business expansion.
Asked how prominently Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, features in its growth agenda, the Celtel chief only said the company looks at all opportunities on the continent equally. MTN has almost four million subscribers in Nigeria, or more than 25% of its total subscriber base.
Celtel has users in Burkina Faso, Chad, the Congo, Gabon, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Zambia.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, it competes with Africa’s largest player, Vodacom, while in Uganda its rival is MTN. In addition, Celtel is a major shareholder in Mobitel, currently Sudan’s sole mobile network operator. — I-Net Bridge