- Ethio Telecom, Ethiopia’s state-owned telecom company, has set a share price of 300 birr ($2.54) for the 100 million shares it plans to sell using its mobile payment service, Reuters reported.
- The company's CEO, Frehiwot Tamiru, announced the move ahead of a stock market listing, adding that the 10% stake in the company will be offered to Ethiopians, marking the first step towards the government selling a further 45% stake in the telecom provider to foreign investors.
- Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is also pushing to open up Ethiopia to more private investment by establishing a stock exchange next month and privatising state-owned businesses.
Brook Taye, CEO of Ethiopia Investment Holdings, had previously stated that the initial 10% sale and the additional 45% stake to private investors would proceed as planned. Taye also said the Ethiopian parliament will pass legislation allowing foreign investors to enter the market within the next two to three months.
Recall that Techpoint Africa had reported that Ethiopia is set to list a 10% stake in Ethio Telecom on the country's newly established stock exchange as part of broader economic reforms under the Prime Minister.
The partial privatisation allows investors to purchase a portion of the company, making it the first firm to be listed on the Ethiopian stock exchange.
Ethio Telecom serves over 120 million people and has long had a monopoly on Ethiopia's telecom sector. However, a consortium led by Kenya's Safaricom entered the market in 2021, having won Ethiopia’s first privatised telecom licence.
Safaricom reported that its active customer base in Ethiopia had doubled to 4.4 million as of its fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. In May, Safaricom Ethiopia received the first batch of 13 locally manufactured telecom towers to improve and expand its network infrastructure.
Moreover, the state-owned telecom also concluded its 2023/24 fiscal year with an 8.9% increase in its subscriber base, reaching 78.3 million customers, and a 21.7% increase in total revenue, reaching Birr 93.7 billion ($1.62 billion), quadrupling its net profit in the last six years.
However, Ethio Telecom plans for a higher revenue boost this financial year, targeting a 75% increase and growing its customer base by 6%, reaching 83 million users by maximising its existing services and rolling out new and improved digital and international offerings.