Orange Guinea

Project Description

On December 18, 2023 MIGA issued guarantees for up to EUR 366.33 million, covering investments by Sonatel SA (“Sonatel Group") of Senegal to Orange Guinée SA, a telecom subsidiary in Guinea, and Orange Finances Mobiles Guinée SA, a mobile money subsidiary in Guinea, in the form of equity and retained earnings (together “the Projects”). The guarantees were issued for a period of six years against the risks of Expropriation (EX), War and Civil Disturbance (WCD) and Transfer Restrictions & Currency Inconvertibility (TR).^[1]

Sonatel Group is a leading telecom operator in West Africa, providing fixed, mobile and internet services. It is a market leader in Senegal and operates in 5 other countries in Africa (Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Cote d’Ivoire).

MIGA’s risk exposure under the guarantees is proposed to be shared with the IDA Private Sector Window (“PSW”).  The PSW involvement will be via a shared first loss facility that will assist in spreading the risk for the Project. The project meets the minimum concessionality principle and the amount of risk subsidy is estimated to be less than 3% of the total project cost over the envisaged 6-year guarantee period.

Environmental Categorization

The Project is a category B under MIGA’s Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability. Click here to view the Environmental and Social Review Summary.

Development Impact

The Projects will support the Sonatel Group in Guinea in its expansion of the network, increasing consumer access, equipment upgrade and renovation, introducing new services, such as 4G/5G, and expansion of mobile money and other products. MIGA guarantees are essential for the Sonatel Group’s business model to mitigate risks associated with their equity investments and enable/accelerate a more ambitious CAPEX program. 

The Projects are aligned with the World Bank country engagement strategy for Guinea by supporting the development and use of digital financial technology to maximize access to job opportunities, decentralize service delivery, including health and education services, and enable better engagement of citizens.