• President Évariste Ndayishimiye met Lyca Mobile’s founder Subaskaran Allirajah to lay the groundwork for a strategic digital partnership.

• Internet penetration in Burundi reached 11.1% at end-2025, or about 1.6 million users, according to DataReportal.

• Lyca Mobile secured a telecommunications license in October 2025 and has moved discussions into a technical deployment phase.

President Évariste Ndayishimiye received a delegation from British group Lyca Mobile on Friday, February 27. Subaskaran Allirajah, the group’s founder and chairman, led the delegation. The presidency said the meeting laid the foundations for a strategic partnership that aims to accelerate the country’s digital transformation and strengthen healthcare coverage.

SE @GeneralNeva, le Chef de l’Etat #Burundi-ais et Président en exercice de l’ @_AfricanUnion a reçu en audience Mr Subaskaran Allirajah,Président-Fondateur du Groupe Lyca Mobile et sa délégation. Les échanges ont porté sur la coopération entre l’opérateur LYCA et le Gouvernement pic.twitter.com/3ijRKDQ6oO

— Ntare Rushatsi House (@NtareHouse) February 27, 2026

In telecommunications, the envisaged cooperation seeks to expand universal access to internet and communication services across the country. Internet penetration in Burundi remains low despite recent growth. DataReportal data show that penetration reached about 11.1% at end-2025, which corresponds to nearly 1.6 million users.

Lyca Mobile also plans to support the digital integration of public administrations and services. The group aims to improve administrative efficiency and enhance the delivery of essential services. Authorities consider digital transformation a key growth driver in this context.

Beyond telecoms, the group plans to operate in the health sector through its Lyca Health division. The initiative aims to strengthen universal health coverage, introduce solutions such as telemedicine and support the modernization of selected medical infrastructure. Authorities have aligned this approach with Burundi’s National Vision 2040-2060, which identifies information and communication technologies as structural levers of economic and social transformation.

This initiative extends previous exchanges between Burundian authorities and the group. Lyca Mobile, which already operates in Uganda and Tunisia, obtained a license in October 2025 by presidential decree to establish and operate a telecommunications network in Burundi. Discussions have now entered a technical phase focused on deployment preparations. Authorities and the group aim to expand access to reliable connectivity, improve service quality and foster more affordable communication offers for the population.

Samira Njoya