Côte d'Ivoire's Telecom Market: Three Operators and the Pace of Digitalisation

In Côte d'Ivoire (in West Africa, French-speaking, the world's largest cocoa producer), the mobile phone is most people's main tool for getting online, staying in touch and accessing information. The structure of the telecom market and the level of digitalisation directly shape how you approach marketing, customer service or building digital services there.

A three-operator market

The mobile market is split between three operators: Orange Côte d'Ivoire (part of France's Orange group), MTN Côte d'Ivoire (part of South Africa's MTN group) and Moov Africa Côte d'Ivoire. The regulator, ARTCI (Autorité de Régulation des Télécommunications/TIC de Côte d'Ivoire), publishes market data every quarter. According to its Q2 2025 report, as at 30 June 2025:

(Shares calculated from subscriber numbers published by ARTCI.) In the same quarter, the three operators' combined mobile revenue was about XOF 257.3 billion, roughly half of it Orange's. Note that mobile subscriptions far exceed the national population of about 31 million, so "subscriptions" do not equal actual users.

From mobile internet to fixed fibre

The main driver of digitalisation is mobile internet. ARTCI's Q1 2026 report shows mobile internet subscriptions reaching about 40.91 million and mobile phone subscriptions about 60.16 million. Operators invested about XOF 97.5 billion in the quarter, up about 94% year on year.

Fixed broadband starts from a small base but is growing fast: from about 557,000 subscriptions in March 2025 to about 816,000 in March 2026, an increase of about 46.5% in a year, with fibre already accounting for more than 60%. Orange holds about two-thirds of the fixed internet market, followed by CanalBox and Moov. According to figures compiled by France's trade promotion agency, 4G and 5G networks cover about 80% of the country. In addition, the arrival of satellite internet services and carrier-neutral data centres is widening the options on the market.

What ARTCI regulates

For businesses, ARTCI does more than oversee telecom operators. It issues telecom operating licences, approves terminal equipment (phones, routers and the like must receive type approval before being sold locally or connected to the network) and handles interconnection and competition issues. Its remit also covers personal data protection, electronic transactions, domain names and the national internet exchange point. If your product involves communications equipment or digital services, you will usually deal with this authority.

One line for Asian companies

Mobile-first is a basic premise for any digital business in Côte d'Ivoire. If you plan to import communications equipment or launch a service that handles personal data, check type-approval and data-protection requirements with ARTCI first.

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References: KOACI – Téléphonie mobile : 59 942 676 abonnés au 30 juin 2025 (2025); Team France Export – Infrastructures numériques en Côte d'Ivoire (2026); Capmad – Fixed Internet surges as subscriptions jump 47% (2026)