Nigeria 2G Replacement Scheme

In Nigeria, the incumbent mobile operator MTN has 40 million 2G users. They have a plan to migrate them over to 4G smart feature phones over time. The target is to migrate 10 million users by 2025. KaiOS is working with MTN, local importer/distributor, and handset manufacturers to make this happen. The business flow is as followed: Local importer/distributor placed order to handset manufacturers and when the phones arrive, they distribute them to mobile operator distribution outlets. The financing is provided to the importer/distributor. And the importer/distributor gets a deal with MTN to get a recurring revenue sharing of the subscription revenue in the first 6 months.  The plan is to provide $10 financing per unit which will bring the take-home price of smart feature phone down even further to ~$15. Total outlay adds to $100m but it will be rolled out by stage. 1) Require $30 million on revolving credit for trade finance purpose; 2) Medium term (4-6 months) forex swap hedging facilities to lock in NGN/USD, and/or a loan guarantor. The rollout can be fast tracked if more financing is available.