The Ethiopian government is inviting international investors to express interest in its telecommunications company, Ethio-Telecom.
According to a statement issued by the ministry of finance, Ethiopia is now ready to release an Expression of Interest for the sale of 40% of shares in the state-owned telecommunications company.
Deloitte has been appointed as the lead transaction advisor and is in the last stages of the preparatory work which includes a business plan, business valuation, and financial, legal, and tax due diligence.
The government said they will issue the Expression of Interest (EOI) on Tuesday 15th June 2021 to allow foreign investors to declare their interest in one of the largest mobile operators in Africa. Interested parties will have 30 days to respond with an expression of interest in the company.
Last month authorities handed out the first private operator licence to a consortium led by Safaricom, UK’s Vodafone, and Japan’s Sumitomo.
The telecoms business in Ethiopia serves close to 53 million subscribers and had been the only mobile service provider in the country until May this year when the Communications Authority issued a license to East Africa’s largest mobile operator, Safaricom. The license allows Safaricom to provide voice and data services in the country.
Ethio-telecom was launched as a continuation of the 2005/06-2009/10 five-year plan of the Ethiopian government and after concentrating its efforts on education, health and agriculture, the government decided to focus on the improvement of telecommunication services considering them as a key lever in the development of Ethiopia.
Ethio telecom was launched on 29 November 2010, with the ambition of supporting the steady growth of our country.
