Safaricom is one of the 12 foreign firms that have submitted their application with the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) for full-service telecommunication licenses in Ethiopia.
The Authority had on May 21 invited interested firms to submit their Expression of Interest (EoI) within one month. The prospective bidders were requested to provide information on their organizational structure, global operating footprint, details of countries of operation, number of mobile phone subscribers, and other relevant information. The information will help the authorities assess the strength of potential bidders and determine the adequate level of qualification criteria to select the type of operators that would fit best into the Ethiopian market.
The authority announces that by the closing date of June 22, 2020 it had received 12 submissions of which 9 are telecom operators and 2 are non-telecom operators and 1 incomplete submission.
These include:
- Global Partnership for Ethiopia (a consortium of telecom operators made of Vodafone, Vodacom, and Safaricom
- Etisalat
- Axian
- MTN
- Orange
- Saudi Telecom Company
- Telkom SA
- Liquid Telecom
- Snail Mobile
- Two non-telecom operators – Kandu Global Telecommunications and Electromecha International Projects
The Ministry of Finance and ECA says that it will keep the participants informed and engaged as the process moves forward. The authority remains fully committed to fulfill Ethiopia’s telecommunications sector reform and enhance its digital transformation.
Related:
Ethiopia Invites Foreign Firms into its Telecommunication Industry
Ethiopia Opens Mobile Money Services to Telecoms
