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Ethiopian Telecommunication Authority (ECA)

Ethiopia Turns Down $500 Million as part of Telco License Deal

The Ethiopian Telecommunication Authority (ECA) has turned down roughly $500 million after the government decided to exclude mobile money from the terms of two new telecommunications licences. “This decision has cost us a high price,” says Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia. “When it was decided to open up the telecoms market about two years ago, one of the key areas of contention was the issue of mobile money. This decision is expected to give the country time to develop its own mobile-money platform. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, John Davies says “Though Ethiopian mobile penetration lags behind peers, investment and lowered prices should lead to strong growth in take-up of mobile services. The value to international investors depends on agreements with the government and how i...

MTN Bids for Ethiopian Telco Licence Alongside Vodacom and Safaricom

MTN Group has reportedly made a bid for an Ethiopian telecommunications licence alongside Vodacom Group and Safaricom. Finance ministry adviser, Brook Taye says that the consortium of bids is led by Safaricom. “We always wanted quality providers and this is what we have received,” adds Taye. “These are two African giants — the Safaricom-led consortium and MTN — either one or two of the operators will get a licence in Ethiopia.” Kenya’s geographical proximity to Ethiopia is expected to be one reason why Safaricom leads the consortium. “I think it will be a very good exposure to Safaricom from the perspective of geographical closeness on the one perspective, but also giving Safaricom additional exposure to more growth areas,” says Vodacom’s chief executive, Shameel Joosub. In an interview wi...

Safaricom to Bid on Opportunity to Expand in Ethiopia

Image sourced from Techweez Safaricom is now one of six companies vying for the chance to claim one of two Ethiopian telecoms licences. This is one opportunity that the telco has been waiting on and one that might grant access to a licence in an economy with more than 100-million people. This comes after the Ethiopian Telecommunication Authority (ECA) issued a statement last year announcing that the country would be open to selling a 40% stake in the state-owned company. In response to this announcement, Safaricom and, its parent company, Vodacom both expressed their interest in buying a stake in Ethio Telecom. According to Bussiness Daily, the ECA has “whittled the list down from a consortium of 12 that had expressed interest in entering the country’s telecommunications market”. The conso...

ECA Suspends Plans to Privatise Ethio Telecom

Sourced from allAfrica. In May, the Ethiopian Telecommunication Authority (ECA) issued a statement announcing that the country would now be open to selling a 40% stake in the state-owned company, Ethio Telecom. In response to this announcement, Safaricom and, its parent company, Vodacom both expressed their interest. However, it looks as though this opportunity was short-lived as the ECA has since suspended its plans to privatize the telco. According to TechNext, Africa’s oldest telco supplies more than 40 million of 115 million Ethiopians with mobile network and Internet services. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_645.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_645.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } But in recent times, locals have began calling out the slow, unreliable internet connection and poo...