Safaricom finally seals Ethiopia entry

The Ethiopian government has rubber-stamped the entry of Safaricom to its telecommunications space by incorporating and registering the business unit set to steer the process.

The Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia PLC, is the name designated to the new company set up in Ethiopia by the Global Partnership for Ethiopia, a consortium which won a bid to set up a telco enterprise in the country.

The new unit has been granted a nationwide full-service unified telecommunications service license effective from July 9 and lasting through a 15-year term.

The license shall be renewable for a term of 15 years subject to the fulfillment of license obligations issued by the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA).

Safaricom and partners who include parent firms Vodacom and Vodafone are expected to break ground on commercial operations in the country from January 2022.

The consortium operations is to be spearheaded by newly formed holding entities in which Safaricom holds a majority stake in.

At the same time, the consortium has since appointed Anwar Soussa as the Chief Executive to the Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia PLC.

Soussa has been serving as Vodacom’s Managing Director in the Democratic Republic of Congo and as the Chairperson for Vodacash.