Kenya’s leading Telco, Safaricom, will own a majority stake of 51% in the consortium of firms seeking a Telecommunication license in Ethiopia. The information surfaced during Vodacom’s H1 2021 results presentation. South Africa’s Vodacom, will have a 5% stake in the consortium and the remaining share will go to strategic investors. Vodacom is keeping its options open in the Ethiopian deal, for opportunities that may arise.
The South African mobile operator recently released impressive results for the first half that ended on 30th September. The group’s revenue climbed 7.8% to $3.09 billion, supported by high demand for voice, data, and financial services. Vodacom expects the strong demand to fade off in the second half of the year as Covid -linked economic challenges limit spending.
The telecommunications firm revealed that it will “bid for both sub 1Ghz spectrum, potentially 10Mhz, and 4G (2.6Ghz)/ 5G (3.5Ghz),” in the spectrum auction by the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA). According to Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub, the spectrum allocation will hasten the rollout of 5G throughout the country.
Vodacom plans to launch a lifestyle app in partnership with Alipay in South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania which will enable merchants to sell products internationally.
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