McCauley Wycliff
Member
Safaricom has made it to the shortlist of six firms that have been cleared to bid for one of two Ethiopian telecoms licences that will be offered this year.
The Ethiopian Communications Authority has whittled the list down from a consortia of 12 that had expressed interest in entering the country’s telecommunications market.
Firms will be required to submit their technical and financial bids by April 5, compared with a previous deadline of March 5.
Safaricom, which last year expressed an interest in a consortium with Vodafone and Vodacom, has signed an agreement to borrow up to $500 million (Sh55.7 billion) from America’s sovereign wealth fund US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to fund the Ethiopia expansion
“There are about five to six consortia who are qualified to bid. Bids are due to be submitted in April,” said Michael Joseph, Safaricom chairman, in an interview. “We are working towards the final submission around March/April.”
The Horn of Africa nation’s telecoms industry is considered the big prize due to the huge size of the market, which serves more than 100 million people.