Telecommunications companies in Ivory Coast risk losing their licences due to poor service, while the government is also seeking to ensure part local ownership.
Reuters reports information technology and communications minister Bruno Kone made the comments yesterday during a visit to the MTN offices in Abidjan.
He said the government was unhappy with the poor levels of service, and would take action against the operators if it did not improve.
“Not a day passes that there are not complaints about service … We think that the population everywhere has the right to better service,” he said.
“I can tell you already, the head of state is encouraging us, instructing us even, to shut down all operators not up to date.”
Within six months, the government will review commercial, technical and financial agreements of all the country’s operators, he added.
Kone said the government plans to guarantee each of the country’s seven operators are at least 15 per cent owned, only two years after it first issued third-generation mobile licences following the end of the civil war.
“You must reserve at least 15 percent of your capital for Ivorian shareholders,” he said.
The country has approximately 18 million mobile subscribers out of a total population of 24 million. The seven licenced operators are Orange, MTN, Libya’s Green, Etisalat’s Moov, Comium’s Koz, locally-owned Cafe Mobile and Warid Telecom.
