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    HomeAccesse&, Orange and VEON reportedly interested in Ethiopian operator licence

    e&, Orange and VEON reportedly interested in Ethiopian operator licence

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    No timetable yet for plans for sale of 45% stake in incumbent

    e& (formerly Etisalat) has indicated an interest in becoming Ethiopia’s third operator after the Ethiopian government indicated it would put the licence out to tender in June (see Third time lucky for third Ethiopian operator?).

    The country’s has a mobile penetration rate of just over half the population and there are about 66.8 million mobile connections.

    The state-owned Ethio Telecom has the lion’s share of the market. Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia, a consortium owned by Vodafone, Vodacom and Safaricom, was granted an operating licence in 2021 and plans to launch M-Pesa mobile money services shortly.

    Ethiopia Monitor reports that Hatem Dowidar, CEO of e&, held remote talks with Ethiopia’s State Minister of Finance Dr. Eyob Tekalign last week and are to meet in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, soon.

    The Ethiopia Monitor also says Orange and Veon have indicated an interest in entering the market.

    In addition to offering a third operating licence, the government has also said it will sell up to 45% of the state incumbent but is yet to announce a timetable for the sale.