Ethiopia’s telecommunications regulator awarded one operating licence to a consortium led by Kenya’s Safaricom (SCOM.NR) and Japan’s Sumitomo (8053.T), Brook Taye, a senior adviser at the finance ministry, said..
The consortium, which includes Vodacom (VODJ.J), Vodafone (VOD.L), and British development finance agency CDC Group, paid $850 million for the licence, Brook said. South Africa’s MTN (MTNJ.J) had also bid for a licence.
Africa’s second-most populous country is hoping that the opening of one of the world’s last major closed telecoms markets will create millions of online job opportunities.
