Optimistic outlook for telecom in North Africa

On the recurrent dilemma of volume versus value, Eric Kerbouriou of Tunisiana, owned by Egypt’s Orascom Telecom, stressed the necessity to strike a balance. He argued that loyalty programs to retain high-value customers needs to accompany the expansion of services to low cost users.

Country strategy examples from Sudan, Tunisia and Lebanon were followed by a presentation on the advantages of infrastructure sharing to cut costs.

Comprising Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia, the region had 102 million subscriptions at end of 2007, but penetration remains low at just below 50 percent, according to a statement from Informa.