ECOWAS to Mediate Benin - Burkina Fasso Border Dispute

ECOWAS intervenes in Benin-Burkina Faso border dispute

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has intervened in the prevailing border dispute between Benin Republic and Burkina Faso, ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohammed Ibn Chambas said in Abuja Monday.
Chambas told newsmen in the Nigerian capital Abuja that he had contacted foreign ministers of the two countries with a view to resolving the feud.

"We have appealed to them to exercise maximum restraint and to avoid any actions likely to mar the cordial relationship between them," he said.

He recalled the satisfactory manner Benin and Niger Republics resolved their border dispute and urged that the current one be tackled within international norms and within the framework of the ECOWAS community.

The dispute which has caused tension in the two countries was sparked off by the alleged unilateral closure of the common border by Benin Republic.

Two villages are involved in the dispute along the border with Benin which accuses Burkina Faso of moving boundary pillars.

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Bennin Cuts off MTN and Atlantique

COTONOU, Benin (Reuters) - Benin granted a mobile phones operating permit to neighbouring Nigeria's second biggest operator Globacom on Monday, a month after cutting off two of its four networks in a dispute over contracts and licence fees.

The West African country launched a tender for a new operator after suspending the networks of South African-listed MTN and Atlantique Telecom, controlled by Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) last month.

Globacom, which describes itself as Africa's fastest growing telecom network, was selected from some 10 tenders submitted and signed a contract with the government on Monday granting the company a 10-year operating licence.

Benin's telecom regulator had ordered MTN and Atlantique Telecom to sign new contracts including a $50 million, 500 percent rise in the initial once-off operator fee to 30 billion CFA francs.

Government officials said Globacom had offered a higher sum to enter the market.
"The financial offer exceeded that which the government is proposing to existing operators," Victor Tokpanou, legal adviser to President Thomas Boni Yayi, told state television on Monday.
Globacom, which began operations in 2003, has over 12 million customers in Nigeria and says it aims "to build the largest and best telecommunications network in Africa."

With only 8 million people, Benin is a tiny market compared to neighbouring Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with nearly 17 times Benin's population.

MTN, whose Benin network was previously operated by Spacetel Benin under the Areeba brand, had 514,000 subscribers in Benin in March. Atlantique Telecom's Moov network, previously part of the Telecel group, has around 450,000.

Tokpanou said there was still room for negotiations with the two suspended operators.

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