Ethiopia Moves to Open Phone Industry to Investors

• Government pushing ahead with plans to sell two new licenses

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Ethiopia plans to sell 40% of the state-controlled telecommunications monopoly as the government moves to open up the industry to more foreign participation.

Details on the partial privatization of Ethio Telecom will be announced “soon,” Brook Taye, an adviser to the state minister of finance, Eyob Tekalign, said on Thursday. Chief Executive Officer Frehiwot Tamiru didn’t respond to calls and a text message requesting comment.

Ethiopia is also pushing ahead with plans to sell two new telecommunications licenses. Almost two years after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced a plan to open up the market, the government on Thursday opened a month-long window for potential buyers to submit expressions of interest, with the International Finance Corp. as adviser.

Africa’s second-most populous country is one of the final frontiers for telecoms investors, and carriers such as Orange SA, MTN Group Ltd. and Vodacom Group Ltd. are among those eying the opportunity. It will be a “competitive bidding process,” according to a statement from the Ethiopian Communication Authority.

Last month, the ECA published the first three of a dozen draft directives to guide operations in the sector including dispute resolution. Ethiopia’s initial plans to issue licenses by March 2020 were disrupted by the decision to hold elections on Aug. 29, which the government later postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Consultancy firm KPMG completed a valuation of the Ethio Telecom, now under review by the board.

(Updates with sale of stake in Ethio Telecom from headline)