Henok Teferra Shawl (pictured in the middle), who is also Ethiopia’s ambassador to Spain, Portugal, Holy See and Monaco, confirmed the interest via a post on Twitter. He accompanied the tweet with a picture of himself and an Orange delegation that includes Yves Gauthier, now a senior advisor but former CEO of Orange Morocco (pictured on the right).
Fruitful discussions with team of @orange which has formally submitted interest to participate in the partial privatization of @ethiotelecom! 🇪🇹 with fast growing economy & income of +100 mln people remains very attractive to foreign investors. @MoF_Ethiopia @mfaethiopia pic.twitter.com/vXJxTnYHas — Henok Teferra Shawl (@_HenokTeferra) July 20, 2021
Part of the liberalisation plans to bid adieu to the state monopoly in the country is to privatise 45% of Ethio Telecom. “It is 40% to all interested bidders and 5% will be dedicated to Ethiopians. The 55% will remain with the government of Ethiopia,” Brook Taye, senior adviser at the ministry of finance, told media.
The 30-day request for expressions of interest in the state-owned telco ended on 15 July and Orange is the first reported formal bidder. MTN is also thought to have been weighing up the option to invest in Ethio Telecom as well, as opposed to waiting to attain an operating licence after losing out in winning a new licence.
The news comes after financing for Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia PLC was thrown into doubt due to US sanctions over the ongoing Tigray conflict.
