Uhuru in Ethiopia to witness award of telecom licence to Safaricom

Uhuru in Ethiopia to witness award of telecom licence to Safaricom

MK254

MK254

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Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa for an official visit on Tuesday that will include, among other bilateral issues, the formal award of a telecom operating licence to a consortium led by Safaricom.

The official award of the licence will also involve the formal signing of an agreement that will allow Safaricom and partners to start rolling out telecom services, becoming the first foreign entity to provide such services in Ethiopia.

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President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed are pictured at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa on June 8, 2021. PHOTO | PSCU​

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described the occasion as “a monumental moment for Ethiopia” and President Kenyatta, who is accompanied by Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretaries Raychelle Omamo (Foreign Affairs) and Joe Mucheru of ICT.

It could see another nut on commercial relations between the two countries fixed.

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President Uhuru Kenyatta is entertained at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on June 8, 2021, after arriving for an official visit during which he will witness the issuing of a telecommunications licence to Safaricom. PHOTO | PSCU​

Source: The East African
 
Ethiopia tumeingia kichwa kchwa, sisi huwa hatubishi hodi, tunaingia kwa mateke na kujichukulia maana dunia hii ukijifanya legelege unasubiri ukaribishwe utakoma huko nje.

Taifa la watu zaidi ya milioni mia moja lipo mikononi mwetu, hamna kitu cha maana kama kuteka soko la mawasiliano.

Jameni tuharakishe mifumo ya kuwahisha mizigo ya kwenda Ethiopia, halafu nimependa huo uzinduzi na matumizi ya OSBP.
 

Vodafone has minimal involvement in Ethiopian consortium​

Written by Mary Lennighan
26 May 2021 @ 11:43

ethiopian-communications-authority-770x285.jpg

Vodafone was part of the consortium that won a new Ethiopian telecoms operating licence, but its direct involvement is minimal and will come solely through its existing African shareholdings.

We know that as a result of the publication by another consortium member – Safaricom – of the shareholder structure of the winning bidder.

The operating company that will launch services in Ethiopia next year will be controlled by Safaricom with a 55.7% stake. The next biggest shareholder is Japan’s Sumitomo Corp with 27.2% followed by the UK’s CDC Group at 10.9%, while South Africa telco Vodacom holds 6.2%. Vodafone is not on the list, which begs the question why it was included in releases from the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA), aside from the fact that it is the biggest shareholder in both Vodacom and Safaricom.

The inclusion of the Vodafone name makes the whole process look a lot more global, of course, which could well have been a concern for the Ethiopian government after the long-awaited privatisation process failed to attract as much international attention as it had hoped; the ban on providing mobile money services doubtless had something – if not everything – to do with that.

As an aside, incumbent Ethio Telecom has reportedly experienced huge interest in its telebirr mobile money service, launched earlier this month safe in the knowledge it would have a market monopoly for a year or so. According to Quartz Africa, the service attracted 1 million registrations in less than a week.

The state was not entirely playing it fast and loose with the Vodafone name though. The mobile group’s Vodafone International holds a single share in Vodafamily Ethiopia Holding, a UK-based outfit owned by Safaricom (90%) and Vodacom (10%). Vodafamily – which plans to change its name and move to Kenya – effectively houses Safaricom and Vodacom’s stakes in the new Ethiopia operating company.

It’s also worth noting that US government-backed Development Finance Corporation (DFC), listed as part of the winning consortium by the ECA, is also missing from the list of shareholders, but that’s not altogether a surprise, since its role was in providing financing for the bid.

Its very presence has triggered a raft of rumours that the whole privatisation process in Ethiopia has become mired in the politics of the US-China trade war. The DFC reportedly agreed to back the winning group provided it committed to using non-Chinese equipment in its network build-out, although as yet there is no concrete evidence of that. The fact that the second bidder, led by South Africa’s MTN and backed by China’s Silk Road Fund and other unnamed private equity outfits, failed to secure a licence even though there were two available seems to lend credence to that report…but then again it could all be about money.

Safaricom has formally confirmed that it bid US$850 million for its licence, while MTN’s bid came in $250 million lower. The telco’s chief executive Ralph Mupita told Connecting Africa that he was disappointed with the outcome but stuck by the disciplined $600 million offer he and his equity partners submitted.

It may well be that MTN and others who were expected to take part in the licensing contest but did not – Orange and Etisalat were the two most commonly named – will come back to the table if and when the state gets around to selling that second licence. In the meantime, the Safaricom group has a head start and it looks like it is aiming to hit the ground running.

The telco said its next job is to form its Ethiopian operating company and satisfy various conditions relating to the issue of the licence, with a view to launching commercial operations in 2022.

“Ethiopia, with an estimated population of approximately 112 million and reported economic growth rate of 8.3% in 2019 (World Bank data), represents an attractive new market for Safaricom to expand into given that Safaricom operates in a neighbouring country and sees the opportunity to deploy similar solutions to help overcome the economic challenges that both countries have in common, e.g. in their education, health and agriculture sectors,” Safaricom said.

Tags: China, Ethiopia, featured, Safaricom, US, Vodacom, vodafone

​

telecoms.com

Vodafone has minimal involvement in Ethiopian consortium - Telecoms.com

Vodafone was part of the consortium that won a new Ethiopian telecoms operating licence, but its direct involvement is minimal and will come solely through its existing African shareholdings.
telecoms.com telecoms.com
 

Vodafone : Kenyan president urges Ethiopia to open up mobile money market​


06/08/2021 | 02:14pm EDT

ADDIS ABABA, June 8 (Reuters) - Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday urged Ethiopia to open up its telecoms sector to private mobile money business investors, a move that would complement a process already underway to reform the sector and bring in foreign investment.

Ethiopia is opening up its telecoms sector, hitherto a monopoly of the state-owned Ethio Telecom, and last month authorities awarded the first private operator licence.

The licence was handed out to a consortium led by Kenya's Safaricom, Vodafone, and Japan's Sumitomo 8053.T.

Currently though only Ethio Telecom is allowed to offer mobile financial services while foreign operators are barred by law from participating. Mobile money is a term for banking transactions made using a phone or other mobile device.

"I am hopeful that your government will consider in the near future, opening up the opportunity for mobile money in Ethiopia," Kenyatta, who is on a visit to Ethiopia, said at a ceremony in the capital Addis Ababa where the consortium was officially awarded its operating licence.
"This move will be particularly timely, as it will offer the millions of Ethiopian people avenues for financial inclusion."

Mobile money services, which were pioneered in Kenya more than a decade ago, have become a lucrative segment of telecoms services in many sub-Saharan African countries.

Ethiopia is hoping that the opening of one of the world's last major closed telecoms markets will create millions of online job opportunities.
The Safaricom consortium plans to invest up to $8.5 billion in the country's infrastructure among other areas. As part of opening up the sector, Ethiopia is also planning to sell a 40% stake in Ethio Telecom to private investors and 5% to Ethiopian people. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said at the same function his government was in the final stage of starting the tendering process.

(Writing by Elias Biryabarema, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

© Reuters 2021


www.marketscreener.com

Vodafone : Kenyan president urges Ethiopia to open up mobile money market | MarketScreener

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday urged Ethiopia to open up its telecoms sector to private mobile money business investors, a move that would complement a process already underway to reform... | June 9, 2021
www.marketscreener.com
 
Geza Ulole said:

Vodafone has minimal involvement in Ethiopian consortium​

Written by Mary Lennighan
26 May 2021 @ 11:43

ethiopian-communications-authority-770x285.jpg

Vodafone was part of the consortium that won a new Ethiopian telecoms operating licence, but its direct involvement is minimal and will come solely through its existing African shareholdings.

We know that as a result of the publication by another consortium member – Safaricom – of the shareholder structure of the winning bidder.

The operating company that will launch services in Ethiopia next year will be controlled by Safaricom with a 55.7% stake. The next biggest shareholder is Japan’s Sumitomo Corp with 27.2% followed by the UK’s CDC Group at 10.9%, while South Africa telco Vodacom holds 6.2%. Vodafone is not on the list, which begs the question why it was included in releases from the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA), aside from the fact that it is the biggest shareholder in both Vodacom and Safaricom.

The inclusion of the Vodafone name makes the whole process look a lot more global, of course, which could well have been a concern for the Ethiopian government after the long-awaited privatisation process failed to attract as much international attention as it had hoped; the ban on providing mobile money services doubtless had something – if not everything – to do with that.

As an aside, incumbent Ethio Telecom has reportedly experienced huge interest in its telebirr mobile money service, launched earlier this month safe in the knowledge it would have a market monopoly for a year or so. According to Quartz Africa, the service attracted 1 million registrations in less than a week.

The state was not entirely playing it fast and loose with the Vodafone name though. The mobile group’s Vodafone International holds a single share in Vodafamily Ethiopia Holding, a UK-based outfit owned by Safaricom (90%) and Vodacom (10%). Vodafamily – which plans to change its name and move to Kenya – effectively houses Safaricom and Vodacom’s stakes in the new Ethiopia operating company.

It’s also worth noting that US government-backed Development Finance Corporation (DFC), listed as part of the winning consortium by the ECA, is also missing from the list of shareholders, but that’s not altogether a surprise, since its role was in providing financing for the bid.

Its very presence has triggered a raft of rumours that the whole privatisation process in Ethiopia has become mired in the politics of the US-China trade war. The DFC reportedly agreed to back the winning group provided it committed to using non-Chinese equipment in its network build-out, although as yet there is no concrete evidence of that. The fact that the second bidder, led by South Africa’s MTN and backed by China’s Silk Road Fund and other unnamed private equity outfits, failed to secure a licence even though there were two available seems to lend credence to that report…but then again it could all be about money.

Safaricom has formally confirmed that it bid US$850 million for its licence, while MTN’s bid came in $250 million lower. The telco’s chief executive Ralph Mupita told Connecting Africa that he was disappointed with the outcome but stuck by the disciplined $600 million offer he and his equity partners submitted.

It may well be that MTN and others who were expected to take part in the licensing contest but did not – Orange and Etisalat were the two most commonly named – will come back to the table if and when the state gets around to selling that second licence. In the meantime, the Safaricom group has a head start and it looks like it is aiming to hit the ground running.

The telco said its next job is to form its Ethiopian operating company and satisfy various conditions relating to the issue of the licence, with a view to launching commercial operations in 2022.

“Ethiopia, with an estimated population of approximately 112 million and reported economic growth rate of 8.3% in 2019 (World Bank data), represents an attractive new market for Safaricom to expand into given that Safaricom operates in a neighbouring country and sees the opportunity to deploy similar solutions to help overcome the economic challenges that both countries have in common, e.g. in their education, health and agriculture sectors,” Safaricom said.

Tags: China, Ethiopia, featured, Safaricom, US, Vodacom, vodafone

​

telecoms.com

Vodafone has minimal involvement in Ethiopian consortium - Telecoms.com

Vodafone was part of the consortium that won a new Ethiopian telecoms operating licence, but its direct involvement is minimal and will come solely through its existing African shareholdings.
telecoms.com telecoms.com
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Mr Wivu najua unapata maumivu ya roho. Kampuni zenu ni local sana. Sio international kama za Kenya. Kwanza banks za Kenya ziko kila mahali ukanda huu. Kengen imeshika soko la Ethiopia na Djibouti. SECO inajengea nchi nyingi boats and badges. Kampuni zenu zimelala tu.
 
Budaa MK254 kwanini msee asingekuja huku Tz maana in 2 months tumeuza kampuni mbili kubwa(tigo na zantel), minara yote ya Airtel ipo kama 1500 hivi...
Ati budaa, mlikuwa wapi? Ama mlikuwa backyard ya state house mkikula ile kitu ya bob mkasinzia
 
Wild Boy said:
Budaa MK254 kwanini msee asingekuja huku Tz maana in 2 months tumeuza kampuni mbili kubwa(tigo na zantel), minara yote ya Airtel ipo kama 1500 hivi...
Ati budaa, mlikuwa wapi? Ama mlikuwa backyard ya state house mkikula ile kitu ya bob mkasinzia
Click to expand...
Rostam Aziz kanunua Tigo na Zantel! Ni pesa ndefu mzee huko Ethiopia, Vodafone na Vodacom ndo wamiliku, Safaricom ni personal secretary wa Vodacom na Vodafone!
 
Geza Ulole said:
Rostam Aziz kanunua Tigo na Zantel!
Click to expand...
Ahsante sana mkuu Geza Ulole kwa kunitoa tongotongo
Sasa kwanini asingekuja straight tu mpaka apitie huko Antananarivo? huyu muhindi namchukia sana hakuna kitu ya maana amewahi tufanyia sisi raia yeye ni kupiga tu mahela, mara tusikie ana dual citizenship na UK mara Vodacom, Vodafone, Caspian, Vichwa vibovu vya treni aaarrrgghhh. Kwakweli nikisikiaga jina la huyu muizi napataga kichefuchefu
 
Geza Ulole said:
Rostam Aziz kanunua Tigo na Zantel! Ni pesa ndefu mzee huko Ethiopia, Vodafone na Vodacom ndo wamiliku, Safaricom ni personal secretary wa Vodacom na Vodafone!
Click to expand...
Mr Wivu sitachoka kukukumbusha kwamba 35% of Safaricom is owned by Government of Kenya. 25% is owned by the general public. That is a total of 60%.
 
Mbona TZ hamjaileta hiyo safaricom yenu
MK254 said:
Ethiopia tumeingia kichwa kchwa, sisi huwa hatubishi hodi, tunaingia kwa mateke na kujichukulia maana dunia hii ukijifanya legelege unasubiri ukaribishwe utakoma huko nje.

Taifa la watu zaidi ya milioni mia moja lipo mikononi mwetu, hamna kitu cha maana kama kuteka soko la mawasiliano.

Jameni tuharakishe mifumo ya kuwahisha mizigo ya kwenda Ethiopia, halafu nimependa huo uzinduzi na matumizi ya OSBP.
Click to expand...
 
Wild Boy said:
Ahsante sana mkuu Geza Ulole kwa kunitoa tongotongo
Sasa kwanini asingekuja straight tu mpaka apitie huko Antananarivo? huyu muhindi namchukia sana hakuna kitu ya maana amewahi tufanyia sisi raia yeye ni kupiga tu mahela, mara tusikie ana dual citizenship na UK mara Vodacom, Vodafone, Caspian, Vichwa vibovu vya treni aaarrrgghhh. Kwakweli nikisikiaga jina la huyu muizi napataga kichefuchefu
Click to expand...
Hahaha wahindi wengine ni wajinga sana. Kuna wale ambao hawawezi kuleta maendeleo katika nchi yake. Hawalipi ushuru. Wanalipa wafanyakazi wao pesa kidogo. Yaani ni kero kabisa.
 
Wild Boy said:
Ahsante sana mkuu Geza Ulole kwa kunitoa tongotongo
Sasa kwanini asingekuja straight tu mpaka apitie huko Antananarivo? huyu muhindi namchukia sana hakuna kitu ya maana amewahi tufanyia sisi raia yeye ni kupiga tu mahela, mara tusikie ana dual citizenship na UK mara Vodacom, Vodafone, Caspian, Vichwa vibovu vya treni aaarrrgghhh. Kwakweli nikisikiaga jina la huyu muizi napataga kichefuchefu
Click to expand...
sio muhindi kwanza ni Mtanzania mwenye asili ya Iran! Kampuni iliyonunua ime-partner naye! It's all about business!
 
Wild Boy said:
All of his businesses have brought a f***n mess to our country
Click to expand...
wewe una uhakika gani kama Tanzania ni nchi yako? Mbona ni kama ancestors wako walitokea misitu ya Congo! Yeye ana historia ya lini great great grandfather wake alikuja Tanzania! Wacha ubaguzi mzee kila aliyekuwa ndani ya mipaka ya Tanganyika siku ya 9th December 1961 ni Mtanzania na aliyezaliwa na mmoja ya Mtanzania baada ya hapo ni Mtanzania!
 
Sasa
Geza Ulole said:
wewe una uhakika gani kama Tanzania ni nchi yako? Mbona ni kama ancestors wako walitokea misitu ya Congo! Yeye ana historia ya lini great great grandfather wake alikuja Tanzania! Wacha ubaguzi mzee kila aliyekuwa ndani ya mipaka ya Tanganyika siku ya 9th December 1961 ni Mtanzania na aliyezaliwa na mmoja ya Mtanzania baada ya hapo ni Mtanzania
Click to expand...
So mimi kumuita "muhindi' ni more sensitive kuliko hasara aliyotuletea?
 
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