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After first expressing interest back in 2021, the French telco giant has decided to shelve its Ethiopian ambitions
French telecoms firm Orange has announced its withdrawal from proceedings to purchase an up to 45% stake in Ethiopian operator Ethio Telecom.
For many years, Ethiopia had remained one of the last remain telecoms monopolies in the world, with state-run Ethio Telecom providing all of the African nation’s fixed broadband and mobile services. This all changed in 2020, however, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced a plan to liberalise the nation’s telecoms sector, introducing new operators to the market and selling a large stake in Ethio Telecom.
Back in 2021, Orange submitted an expression of interest to take part in the partial privatisation of Ethio Telecom, alongside various other telco giants, such as South Africa’s MTN and Abu Dhabi-based e&.
Ethiopia is the second largest telecoms market in Africa, with a population of 120 million people. Ethio Telecom currently serves around 70 million customers.
Now, however, it seems that Orange has decided not to pursue a stake in Ethio Telecom any further. In statement to Reuters, the company said, “Orange confirms that it has decided to withdraw from the ongoing process regarding the sale of 45% of Ethio Telecom.”
“After analysis, the Group believes that the conditions do not allow for the rapid deployment of our strategy and the completion of a project that would create value for the company.”
In July this year, Bloomberg reports suggested that both Orange and e& were considering separate bids for a 45% stake.
Despite Ethiopia’s being in the process of liberalising its telecoms sector for a number of years now, progress has been slow. The country’s regulator made two new telecoms licences, the first of which was granted to Safaricom Ethiopia in May 2021 (for $850 million), but the second licence went unsold when MTN’s bid of $600 million was deemed too low. Further delays were caused by the conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, which presented challenging economic conditions for the country. Since the conflict’s end, movement in the sector is beginning to start once again.
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