The Ethiopian Government on Monday invited bids for a 40 per cent stake in State-owned carrier Ethio Telecom to private investors through a tender process.
Through a statement issued by the ministry of finance, Ethiopia is now ready to release an Expression of Interest for the sale of 40 per cent of shares in the state-owned telecommunications company.
“The government want(s) State-owned enterprises to be competitive and productive,” Zinabu Yirga, Deputy Director of Public Enterprises Holding and Administration Agency said during a press conference.
Interested parties have 30 days to respond with an expression of interest in the company.
The Ethiopian government issued to the Vodafone-led consortium its licence to compete against Ethio Telecom, for which it paid US$850 million. The group includes Kenya’s Safaricom and South Africa’s Vodacom as well as Sumitomo of Japan and government funding agencies from the US and UK.
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The Global Partnership for Ethiopia will spend $8 billion on building out its network.
“We look forward to increasing connectivity, providing best in class mobile telephony services, creating new digital businesses, and generating new jobs for citizens across the country,” Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO said when together with the consortium signed an agreement with the Ethiopian Communications Authority for the telecommunications license in Ethiopia.
