When the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) recently invited public comments on a proposed deal for Axian Telecom Fibre Limited to acquire a controlling stake in Wananchi Group (Holdings) Limited, it marked yet another bold step by Hassanein Hiridjee, the Madagascan billionaire behind the Axian Group.
If approved, the deal would hand Axian—already a powerhouse in African telecoms—99.39% of Wananchi Group, giving it majority control over Simbaneet Uganda Limited, Wananchi Cable Uganda Limited, and their popular broadcasting brand Zuku TV.
For Uganda, this isn’t just another change of corporate ownership—it’s the latest move in Hiridjee’s quiet but decisive march into the country’s telecom space.
From Towers to TV – Building the Ugandan Footprint
This is not Hiridjee’s first Ugandan foray. In 2022, Axian’s infrastructure arm, TowerCo of Africa, acquired 90% of Ubuntu Towers Uganda Ltd, a licensed National Public Infrastructure Provider specialising in passive telecom infrastructure—rooftop sites, in-building solutions, street poles, and greenfield towers.
Ubuntu’s founders, former Eaton Towers Uganda executives, had carved out a niche by winning build contracts from MTN Uganda and Airtel Uganda.
Under TowerCo of Africa, and with Axian’s capital muscle, the business was rebranded and positioned to challenge the market dominance of American Tower Corporation (ATC) Uganda, which holds close to 90% market share.
The Big Game: Uganda Telecom Bid
Hiridjee’s ambitions stretch beyond infrastructure and pay-TV. In April 2022, he made a formal bid to acquire Uganda Telecommunications Corporation Limited (UTCL), the state-owned successor to the once-dominant Uganda Telecom.
His offer was concrete: USD 25 million in immediate capital injection and USD 200 million more over five years for network modernisation.
Proven multi-country telecom operations spanning Madagascar, Tanzania, Togo, Senegal, DRC, Réunion, Mayotte, Comoros, and Uganda.
Despite Axian’s credentials, the UTCL stake ultimately went to Rowad Capital Commercial LLC, a little-known UAE firm whose selection drew controversy.
Breaking Barriers: Charles Mudiwa on Intergenerational Leadership at Makerere A presidential directive sealed the deal for Rowad, even as some government agencies expressed concerns and industry observers argued Axian would have been the safer, more experienced partner.
The Man Behind the Moves
Hassanein Hiridjee, 50, is a French-Malagasy entrepreneur from Madagascar’s Indo-Pakistani community. Educated at ESCP Business School in Paris, he transformed the family’s legacy businesses into Axian Group, a diversified conglomerate with a 2022 turnover of USD 1.9 billion and over 7,500 employees in 14 countries.
Axian’s telecom arm is now one of Africa’s most aggressive players, operating in multiple markets with integrated offerings in mobile networks, tower infrastructure, data hosting, mobile money, and digital services.
It’s deals are often backed by heavyweight financiers like the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF).
A Telecom Future in Flux
With the Wananchi deal, Hiridjee is poised to add broadcasting and fixed-network capability to his Ugandan playbook, complementing his tower infrastructure footprint.
The combination could give Axian a vertically integrated presence—serving wholesale infrastructure, retail telecom services, and content distribution.
Even without UTCL, Hiridjee has managed to establish himself as a disruptive force in Uganda’s telecom market.
By leveraging Axian’s regional scale, deep pockets, and operational expertise, he is positioning to capture market share across multiple layers of the telecom value chain—from the towers that carry the signal to the screens in people’s homes.
If UCC approves the Wananchi acquisition, it will mark the billionaire’s second major strike in Uganda in less than three years—a clear signal that Hassanein Hiridjee isn’t nibbling at Uganda’s telecom sector; he’s taking a huge bite out of it.
