November 6, 2019, Lomé - The Togolese Government announces that it has accepted the offer submitted by Agou Holding, a leading international consortium, composed of Axian Group (“Axian”) and Emerging Capital Partners (“ECP”), for the acquisition of 51% of the capital of Togocom, holding company holding Togo Télécom and Togocel, for a total enterprise value of more than 210 billion FCFA. The consortium also intends to invest 245 million euros (about 160 billion FCFA) over the next seven years to revolutionize the digital sector in Togo. This operation aims, through the entry into Togocom's capital of two international players combining sectoral expertise and financial capacity, to enable Togo to become the regional reference in terms of very high speed performance, financial inclusion and technological solutions for companies. A leading consortium Axian is an African group with an international footprint that operates in the telecoms, energy, financial services, real estate and innovation sectors. The group has expertise in telecoms through its subsidiaries in the Indian Ocean and in sub-Saharan Africa. Its subsidiary Telma, the former Malagasy historical operator, now ranks number 1 in the sector in the Indian Ocean (Madagascar, The Comoros, Reunion and Mayotte). Thanks to the transformation undertaken and the investments made by Axian, Madagascar now has one of the fastest Internet connections on the African continent, which in particular promotes job creation. The Axian Group currently manages a base of approximately 10 million mobile customers, 80,000 fixed customers and more than 3 million mobile money customers while operating more than 12,000 kilometers of underground optical fiber. The Axian Group is also present in Senegal through the operator Free, which connects more than 4 million customers. Emerging Capital Partners is, for its part, a major international player in private equity that has been present in Africa for nearly 20 years. Through its 60 investments, ECP has invested in over 40 countries across the continent and has raised over $3.2 billion in growth capital through its funds and co-investments. ECP also benefits from strong expertise in telecoms, as evidenced by its investments in MTN Côte d'Ivoire, Orascom Telecom Algérie, Airtel, Wananchi and IHS. Through this operation, ECP renews its confidence in the Togolese economy: it is already supporting the developments of the Oragroup banking group, recently listed on the BRVM Regional Stock Exchange, since 2008, and the pan-African industrial group Eranove operating in the water and energy. A transaction at the service of the digital transformation of the country and the Togolese Digital transformation is at the heart of the implementation of the National Development Plan and this emblematic operation aims to meet the challenges of the PND as well as the Development Plan of the territory by deploying a dense and efficient mobile and fixed network. The state shareholder has thus far supported Togocom's development, enabling it to become a solid, innovative player ready to enter a new phase of accelerated growth. The Group will be able, with the support of the new shareholders, to respond to Togo's digital challenges. The Group's priority will remain the improvement of services for Togolese while ensuring an overhaul of tariff plans. It will in fact endeavor to improve mobile Internet coverage and will support the increase in smartphone equipment rates. Financial inclusion will also be at the heart of the Group's ambitions by restructuring the mobile money distribution network, developing the ecosystem of T-Money partnerships and introducing new services. These major projects will serve Togo's ambition to be the benchmark telecom market in the region by being the first 100% fiber optic country in the region and the first country to launch 5G.

A major strategic plan to support this transformation over the next seven years * Investment of nearly 245 million euros (160 billion FCFA) in fundamental infrastructure to prepare Togocom's network for the digital challenges of the future: improvement of international connectivity, reinforcement of land transport, densification of the mesh of the very high speed fiber and mobile access network. * Introduction of new technologies to support the digitalization of Togo: facilitated access platforms for content providers, solutions for e-Administration, unified communication tools for the private sector, IoT solutions on the 5G network for the sectors of the logistics (particularly ports), mining and transmissions. * Rationalization and implementation of best practices such as training and skills development of Togocom teams, implementation of distribution channel synergies, performance management and securing of information systems. * Alignment with international service quality standards, in particular on network coverage, Internet speed performance, customer service efficiency, proximity to the distribution network and availability of products and services. Federating Togocom's teams around a project for the future Togocom's employees who work daily to offer quality service to Togolese are at the heart of the group's successes and will be actors in its future success. This is why the consortium intends to capitalize on their expertise and know-how to carry out this strategic project. It will be based on the reorganization of the Togocom teams, which was carried out in 2018 in a logic of operational efficiency and adaptation to market changes. In order to support this growth project, the consortium intends to support the skills development of the teams and deploy several measures in favor of the reinforcement of resources on growing activities, the transfer of know-how, training, international mobility and an incentive remuneration policy. A rigorous and transparent call for tenders process This operation concludes a privatization process announced in 2018 during the presentation of the Government's digital roadmap. As part of a competitive call for tenders, several international players have expressed their interest in providing financial support and expertise for the development of Togocom. After an in-depth study, the Government selected the consortium which seemed to it to be the most likely to carry Togocom's long-term ambition for the benefit of all Togolese. For this operation, the Government has sought leading international advice, in particular the investment bank Lazard Frères and the law firm Jones Day. Togo, a catalyst for attracting international investors The consortium's project to implement a development plan for Togocom reflects its confidence in the Togolese economic and regulatory environment. This materializes the attractiveness of the business climate in Togo as evidenced by the World Bank's Doing Business 2020 report which ranks Togo as the country with the best business climate in West Africa. Thanks to the political will of President Faure Gnassingbé, Togo has pursued a policy of structural reforms in recent years with a view to establishing a regulatory and institutional framework conducive to international financial operations and investments. Featured in the top 3 countries that have carried out the most reforms in the world since 2014, Togo has thus progressed by 59 places over the past two years in the World Bank ranking. Mrs. Cina Lawson, Minister of Posts, Digital Economy and Technological Innovations, also declared: “This major operation marks an important step in the government's digital roadmap. It will allow us to become the benchmark telecom market in the region and consolidate our leadership in digital transformation. Thanks to the support of these new shareholders, Togocom will accelerate its development for the benefit of all Togolese, businesses and national influence. »

Mr. Sani Yaya, Minister of Economy and Finance added: “Thanks to the structural reforms carried out by the President of the Republic and the improvement of the business climate, Togo has become one of the most attractive countries in the region. for international investments. This is evidenced by the consortium's desire to make a long-term commitment through an investment of 245 million euros to support the development of Togocom. This substantial investment will catalyze the digital transformation of the country and support the growth of our economy. » Mr. Hassanein Hiridjee, CEO of the Axian group declares: « The entry into the capital of Togocom is part of our desire to develop, wherever we are established, the best of telephony, the Internet and digital innovations. We have the ambition to make Togocom, the national operator, a leader in its market and each Togolese a citizen of the new digital world. " Mr. Vincent Le Guennou, Co-CEO of ECP concludes: "This investment reinforces the vocation of ECP to promote the emergence of African champions in strategic business sectors for the development of African economies. With its many experiences in the telecommunications sector, ECP makes a strong contribution to the development of Togocom and the digital transformation of Togo. »