Tunisia suffered a decline in economic activity after the 2011 revolution, compounded by the COVID pandemic in 2019. High levels of regulation and increasing market concentration has created barriers to entry for private enterprise and cost of business remains high
Tunisia’s GDP declined 2.5% by 2022 and is expected to see modest growth of 1.3% in 2024. Inflation peaked in February at 10.4% but has stabilized at around 8%. This has devaluated the Tunisian Dinar which has a 4.3 average annual depreciation vs the US$. There are three MNOs active in the Tunisian market; market-leader Ooredoo, Orange and Tunisie Telecom. Most of Tunisia’s 8,000 sites are rooftops due to the concrete structures of
most buildings with Tunisie Telecom having around 70% of its portfolio as rooftop sites.
Tunisia - telecom market statistics Q3 2024
Tunisia is shaping up to be one of the most active tower markets in North Africa. Tunisie
Telecom is in the process of carving out their 2,850 towers into a separate entity. While the towerco will remain under Tunisie Telecom group, management and operations will be
separated with future potential to either sell the portfolio or bring in a shareholding partner. Ooredoo’s Tunisia portfolio is in the process of being transferred to TASC Towers as part of the merger between Oorderoo, Zain and TASC, and is waiting on regulatory approvals. With a tenancy ratio of 1.18x,
there will be healthy opportunities for colocation as the first towerco to enter the market, and market consolidation via
Tunisie Telecom is a possibility. Less so with Orange, after the group reaffirmed their commitment to retaining tower ownership early this year.
Tunisia - estimated tower ownership Q3 2024
While there is no current regulation enforcing tower sharing, coverage commitments in 4G licenses require operators to provide certain coverage levels that have led to a limited
number of site swaps on around 15% of sites. However, to protect market share, MNOs only share sites if their competitors use the same generation of network. Tunisia is preparing to launch the country’s first commercial 5G services next year and the ANRT has is in the process of setting out a clear roadmap. Minister Communication Technologies Nizar Ben Neji highlighted the importance of 5G to Tunisia’s digital strategy, as the reduced latency and higher capacity will allow for the adoption of next-generation technologies to boost innovation and technological progress.
