ESMT–309–0096–1 ES0961

March 27, 2009

ESMT Case Study

Celtel Nigeria: Towards serving the rural poor (A)

Introduction
In mid–2007 Celtel Nigeria was the second largest mobile telecommunications company in the Nigerian market with a 28 percent market share and subscriber base of approximately eight million. The company had experienced considerable success in serving Nigeria’s cities and larger towns, but had only recently shifted its attention to serving poorer consumers in rural areas—a massive but as of yet under tapped market. But this shift from urban to rural had not been easy, and although some 50 percent of Nigeria’s population lived in rural regions the challenges of reaching them sometimes seemed overwhelming. The absence of a reliable national electricity grid meant that the company’s rural telecommunications towers had to be run on diesel generators, resulting in high maintenance and diesel fuel costs. Theft and vandalism of expensive communications equipment and generators

This case study was written by Jamie Anderson of TiasNimbas Business School and Martin Kupp of ESMT European School of Management and Technology. Sole responsibility for the content rests with the authors. It is intended to be used as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Copyright 2009 by ESMT European School of Management and Technology, Berlin, Germany, www.esmt.org. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise - without the permission of ESMT.

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