Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that he plans on selling a 30% to 40% stake in the state-owned telecoms company Ethio Telecom and split it into two with the aim of bolstering competition in the marketing. This step will attract huge investments into the country and the telecoms industry in particular.
“There will be two telecom corporations and shares will be sold in both. Somalia, with a population of 12 million, has four telecommunications firms. Ethiopia - with 100 million people - has one. There needs to be competition in the country”, according to Reuters quoting Ahmed.
In early June, the Ethiopian government had disclosed that it will allow local private and foreign businesses to invest in state-owned telecoms, aviation, shipping and power companies. MTN and Vodacom have showed interest in Ethiopia which they consider as a great opportunity for growth.
