Kenyan telco giant Safaricom partners Vodacom to expand into Ethiopia

Kenyan-based telecoms company, Safaricom, has announced its partnership with SA-based Vodacom in a bid to expand into Ethiopia.

Safaricom and Vodacom will jointly bid for one of the two telecoms licenses to be issued by the Ethiopian government in 2020.

Safaricom interim CEO Michael Joseph said that the tel-co was actively considering entering the Ethiopian market.

Ethiopia’s government decided to privatize state-owned Ethio-telecom, and open up the country’s telecom space to international corporations.

Speaking to Reuters, Safaricom’s CEO, Michael Joseph said, “You have to bid for the spectrum. There is talk about it and it is in the billion dollar range, just for the licence.

Related article: Ethiopia appoints Transactions Adviser ahead of Ethio-Telecom privatization

According to the CEO, the licenses are likely to cost a vast amount, and firms that want to participate in the bid will have to be ready to foot the bill. As such, Safaricom has had to get into the partnership with Vodacom.

Safaricom, which is partly owned by Vodacom and Britain’s Vodafone, reported a 14.4% growth in net profit up to KES 35.65 Billion.

M-Pesa and data sales have contributed greatly to Safaricom’s service revenue growth by 5.3%, up to KES 124.3 Billion.