Safaricom Ethiopia News
Ethiopia Changing Laws to Prepare for M-PESA Launch
Image sourced from WeeTracker Ethiopia has reportedly started changing certain national payments laws in an effort to clear the way for Safaricom to launch M-PESA, Africa’s largest fintech platform, to the Horn of Africa country’s virtually untapped market of 110-million people. The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has drafted a bill that will allow foreign investors to launch and operate mobile money services in the country, making way for companies like Safaricom, which is planning to begin operations in Ethiopia within the year. Last year, a consortium led by Safaricom and Vodafone secured Ethiopia’s first-ever private mobile telephony license for $850-million, however, the deal did not include or permit mobile financial services like M-PESA. According to Business Daily Africa, the NBE n...
Tower Sharing Deal in the Works Between Safaricom & Ethio Telecom
Sourced from CGTN. Safaricom has reportedly begun negotiations on a new infrastructure sharing deal with Ethiopian rival and state-owned entity Ethio Telecom. This comes as the Kenyan telecom company and its consortium of investors prepare a much-anticipated launch in the Horn of Africa country over the next month. CEO of Safaricom in Ethiopia, Anwar Soussa, says that the company is currently working with Ethio Telecom and state regulator Ethiopia Communication Authority (ECA) to finalise all the details of the partnership. Safaricom is seeking to leverage the sparse, but already-existing tower infrastructure, as well as cell sites, masts and other active elements such as network roaming, that Ethio Telecom is maintaining to boost its initial launch, with the telco and its consortium expec...
