Strive Masiyiwa to bid for Ethiopian telecoms licence Mr Strive Masiyiwa

ECONET Global Limited, owned by Zimbabwean billionaire Mr Strive Masiyiwa, is keen to acquire a telecommunications licence in Ethiopia, which is opening up the industry to foreign investment for the first time.

According to Bloomberg, Ethiopia has announced plans to sell as much as 49 percent of the state-owned monopoly, Ethiopian Telecommunications Corp, and issue two new spectrum licenses. 

Carriers including Orange SA, MTN Group Ltd. and Vodacom Group Ltd. have already shown interest in the nation of more than 100 million people, which has a relatively low level of data penetration and internet access.

“Econet, through a number of its subsidiaries, is actively developing interests in Ethiopia,” a company spokesman was quoted saying in an emailed response to questions from Bloomberg. 

“Given that there is a competitive process on new licenses, it would not be appropriate at this stage to discuss our own positioning.”

Econet has operations in Africa in Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Burundi, and investments in Europe and South America. 

Mr Masiyiwa’s Liquid Telecoms, Africa’s biggest fibre company, has assets across the continent.

Ethiopia had scheduled the liberalisation of the telecommunication sector for early this year, but delayed the process because of elections to be held in August and also to give bidders for the new licenses more time to prepare. 

That country’s government is reported as yet to provide guidance on the exercise, including any limits on foreign ownership. -Online

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