9Mobile banks on new owner to reverse fortunes

The telco announced that UK-based LH Telecommunication Limited has completed an equity investment that has given it majority control; specifically, LH Telecom now owns 95.5% of 9Mobile.

The deal has been in the works for some time. The African Export Import Bank, 9Mobile's senior lender, approved the investment in May last year. Amongst other things, the firms needed the approval of regulatory body the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to push the deal over the line.

The injection of fresh capital into the company – and a new management team and slate of directors – will underpin 9Mobile's bid to regain its position as a credible competitor in the Nigerian mobile market.

The operator has been in trouble for some time. 2017 was a pivotal year for the company, then known as Etisalat Nigeria due to a management agreement on the part of the United Arab Emirates-based telecoms group. The operator's financial woes took it close to collapse and ultimately Etisalat made the decision to exit.

A rebrand to 9Mobile ensued, along with a pledge to ensure business continuity, which has certainly happened. But there has been no renewed vigour in the company, which one could have realistically expected from a reinvention move. At the time 9Mobile pledged to continue operations for its 20 million-plus customers; now it has around half that number.

According to Connecting Africa, which cites Omdia figures, 9Mobile had around 11.3 million mobile customers as of the end of June, down from more than 23 million back in 2015.

To put that market share slide in context, Nigerian market leader MTN had more than 83 million customers as of mid-year, with Airtel and Glo Mobile coming in second and third with subs bases of 64 million and 62.5 million respectively. 9Mobile finds itself a minnow in a massive market.

It has a huge amount of ground to make up, and it would take a brave industry commentator to suggest that it is able to do so.

But it has to try, and as such it has a raft of new leaders whose job it will be to steer the ship from here on.

9Mobile shared extensive details of three appointed board members and five directors nominated by LH Telecom; the former includes new chairman Thomas Etuh, founder of the Tak Group of companies, who has previously served as chair of a number of companies in adjacent industries, including a stint at the helm of Unity Bank.

The board has ratified the appointment of a new management team, led by CEO Obafemi Banigbe, to guide it through this stage of transition and put it on the path to recovery, 9Mobile said. Banigbe has a couple of decades of experience in telecoms, including executive-level roles at Airtel Nigeria, Millicom Tanzania, and Millicom Ghana. His Chief Operating Officer John Vasikiran and CFO Abolaji Idowu also have some big name telecoms companies on their CVs.

The new leadership team will need every bit of their collective experience in the industry if they are to turn things around at 9Mobile. This is no easy task.