A third telecoms operator is not joining the market in Ethiopia any time soon.
This is after the government announced a process to seek an international telecom licence has been terminated. The process was launched in June.
The process is suspended before launching a request for bids as the market interest, upon assessment, had not met the expectations, according to one government official. Had the process gone ahead and become successful, it would have opened the way for a second private telecoms company to operate in the country.
In 2021 Ethiopia’s first international telecoms operator, a consortium led by Kenya’s Safaricom joined the market deemed lucrative with a potential of tens of millions of customers.
Ethiopia had previously rejected a $600 million bid from MTN Group Ltd and suspended a tender process it had launched.
State-run Ethio Telecom, which had monopolized the market for decades, boasted around 70 million subscribers by the end of last year.
The authorities are additionally seeking to sell less than 50% of Ethio Telecom.
Some analysts say Ethiopia is struggling to attract foreign investors as, despite ending a deadly conflict in its northern regions with a peace deal, it still continues to grapple with instability in multiple areas.
