This archive report was first published on 14 October 2019.
Published on October 14, 2019, Safaricom, Kenya's largest telecommunications company, is planning to expand its operations into Ethiopia by acquiring a stake in the state-owned Ethio Telecom.
Acting Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph revealed that the company is considering two options: buying shares in Ethio Telecom, the world's largest telecoms monopoly, or setting up operations from scratch.
With a subscriber base of 44 million, Ethio Telecom is the biggest single-country customer base of any operator in Africa, generating revenues of Sh124.5 billion ($1.2 billion) last year.
According to Joseph, Safaricom is 'looking at all options' to gain access to Ethiopia's mobile market, which has attracted the interest of several international telcos, including Vodafone, MTN, Orange, Etisalat, and Zain.
The Ethiopian government has indicated that it will only sell a minority stake of up to 49 percent of Ethio Telecom.
