Since 2018, Alioune Ndiaye has been the CEO of Orange Middle-East and Africa (Omea), which brings together the 18 subsidiaries of the French group in Africa and the Middle East. If, on the continent, Orange has not materialized in recent years either the major merger envisaged with Airtel and MTN, or its entry into the Ethiopian market, the former boss of Sonatel retains a large internal coast. Under his leadership, the holding company’s turnover increased from 5.1 billion euros to almost 6.4 billion in 2021. And it is today, by far, the leading contributor to the growth of Orange.
A few days before the arrival of Christel Heydemann as Chief Executive Officer, replacing Stephane Richard, the Senegalese is the big guest of the economy Jeune Afrique-RFI, broadcast on April 2 on RFI. Find the highlights of the interview with Bruno Faure.
Jeune Afrique: At a time when the group’s governance has been disrupted by the forced resignation of its CEO, Stéphane Richard, is your departure relevant?
Alioune Ndiaye: I was lucky in my career to have always been able to fix the moment of the release. And I had actually planned to leave my post this year. But there is the arrival of a new general manager on April 4, a new president in May, and we are in discussion to find the way in which I can support the group during this transition phase.
Consumers are constantly reproached when we talk to them about telecom operators, they find the prices of communications, the Internet, etc. to be too expensive.
Orange makes every effort to make the price as affordable as possible. The United Nations considers Internet access to be affordable in Africa when the price per gigabyte is less than 2% of gross income. All operators were on average at 13.2% in 2016, we went to 4.2% in 2019. Concerning Orange, we are in 18 countries. In nine of them, our average price is already below 2% and in all our countries prices continue to fall.
The increase in oil prices, but also the tensions on the wheat market, consequences of the war in Ukraine, accentuate inflation everywhere in the world and including in Africa. Governments are looking for leeway. All want to avoid social protest movements. Does this fuel the fiscal pressure on the telecom sector?
We have always experienced a somewhat heavy tax burden, with up to 30 or 40% of our turnover taken by the State. This trend is sometimes fueled by international institutions. Dialogue with governments should make it possible to establish a tax and regulatory framework that is more predictable, more balanced and adaptable to the rapid evolution of our industry.
You say it in diplomatic terms, does that make you angry?
It’s not anger, it’s a deep conviction. Mali, whatever may be said, has adopted a reasonable level of taxation. Initially, there was not even a turnover tax specific to the telecoms sector, whereas now it has reached 6 or 7% in each of our countries. In the medium term, governments that bet on a bearable level of taxes by setting investment obligations are adopting a more virtuous model, because they do not curb the development of the sector. In Mali, we are the first taxpayer and it is one of the countries where we generate the most revenue for the State.