Ethiopia government, under the leadership of its Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, has opened up its telecommunications economy both to investors in the country and foreign aimed at achieving “the government’s policy of restructuring the telecommunications market and introducing competition.”
The resolution was passed on 4 February 2019, after the Ethiopia’s Council of Ministers reviewed and passed the new proclamation, dubbed Communications Service Regulation Proclamation, establishing a federal authority to regulate telecommunication services. The proclamation awaits further approval from the House of People’s Representatives.
The federal body in charge of the sector will be known as The Ethiopian Communications Regulatory Authority, which will be tasked to regulate telecommunication services and ultimately boost the government’s policy of restructuring the market and boost competition.
This paves way for “an independent, transparent, and accountable regulatory Authority”
Key among the authority’s tasks will be to implement policies for communications services, regulate tariffs relating to Communications Service as well as to license and supervise operators of communications service and modify, renew, suspend or revoke licenses.
It will compose of “Board of Directors, a Director General, a number of Deputy Directors General – as deemed necessary- and necessary staffs”.
On June 05, 2018, the Ethiopian
People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front executive committee decided to open up
Ethiopia’s economy by recommending partial or full privatisations of key state
owned enterprises including, but not limited to, giant state monopolies such as
Ethio-telecom and Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Service Enterprise.
