On February 9, the Ethiopian government announced the sale of 45% of the capital of the public operator Ethio Telecom, which lost its monopoly in 2022.
“The Ethiopian government proposes a partial privatization of Ethio Telecom (…)”, indicates the press release on ministry of Finance, which refers to the “solid financial performance” of the company.
Launched in June 2021, the partial privatization of Ethio Telecom, a 100% public company, was finally postponed indefinitely in March 2022 “due to recent rapid macroeconomic developments and changes” in the world and in the country.
corner stone
The privatization of Ethio Telecom is one of the cornerstones of the package of reforms announced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed when he came to power in 2018 to modernize the Ethiopian economy, very state-owned.
In May 2021, a second mobile phone license – ending Ethio Telecom’s monopoly – was granted to Kenyan operator Safaricom.
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The country’s economy has deteriorated sharply over the past two years amid the pandemic, conflict between the federal government and the rebel authorities in Tigray – a peace agreement was signed between the parties in November 2022 – and repercussions of the war in Ukraine.
(with AFP)