The Ethiopian government launched the call for proposals for the 40% of Ethio Telecom

(Ecofin agency) - Following the allocation of the country's first mobile license to Safaricom last May, a new page opens for the liberalization of the Ethiopian telecoms market.At the center of investors' attention, the public telecom company.

The Government of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia, through its Ministry of Finance, proceeded on Tuesday, September 14, at the official launch of the call for proposals for the 40% of the capital of Ethio Telecom.The call is launched to all companies interested in entry into the local telecoms market, alongside public society and is not only limited to those which have already officially expressed a mark of interest in this sale of actions.

Companies specially targeted by the Ethiopian government are "those capable of bringing added value to the company [Ethio Telecom, editor's note] by providing best practices in terms of operations, infrastructure management and technological capacities ofnew generation, ”said the Ministry of Finance.In short, Ethiopia is looking for a quality partner who can help Ethio Telecom to fully achieve its potential.At the end of the 2020 financial year, the company published an income of 56.5 billion BIRRS (USD 1.25 billion).Up 18.4%, compared to the previous year.

Through this call for proposals for the partial privatization of Ethio Telecom, the Government is starting a new phase of the liberalization process of its telecoms market initiated since June 10, 2019 with the promulgation of the law on the liberalization of the telecommunications sector.The first phase completed on May 22 saw the allocation of the country's first mobile license to Global Partnership for Ethiopia, the consortium formed by Safaricom, Sumitomo, Vodacom, Vodafone and CDC Group.

Until now, the Ethiopian authorities have not revealed any real estimate of the amount they wish to draw from the sale of the minority shares of Ethio Telecom.The government has always highlighted its desire to improve the efficiency of the public operator, its competitiveness and its access to capital, the quality of its services to make it a pillar of the economy.

Muriel Edjo

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05/24/2021 - The consortium formed of Safaricom, Vodafone Group (UK) and Vodacom Group wins the Ethiopian telecom license