Ethiopia, Global Partnership Sign Telecom Licensing Agreement

June 9/2021(ENA)The Government of Ethiopia formally signed an operating licensing agreement, making good on its promise to end a decades-long monopoly in the country.
Representatives from the firms in the winning consortium, the Global Partnership for Ethiopia - Safaricom, Sumitomo, Vodacom, Vodafone, and CDC Group - traveled to Addis Ababa to participate in the signing ceremony.

«Today marks an important day for the citizens and businesses of Ethiopia, » Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide said.

«This is but an early step -- we will continue to work collaboratively with partners and investors to build a modem and open telecommunications sector to improve connectivity, productivity and economic growth in Ethiopia, » he added.

Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO, said: "I would like to congratulate the Government of Ethiopia for the rigorous and competitive process that got us here today. All the individual organizations represented in our consortium are united in our commitment to effect positive social change in Ethiopia through the technology we provide. Across the world we are long-term investors with a clear purpose to support countries to digitalize and grow their economies, to benefit people in all parts of society and in all regions."

Approximately 250 people attended the event which was held at Sheger Park.

The consortium paid 850 million USD for the license, is expected to intro­duce new services and infrastructure improvements.

The investors will create up to 1.5 million new jobs in Ethiopia and bring 8.5 billion USD in investment over 10 years.