Ethiopia’s sole telco, Ethio Telecom, has posted strong financials for the first half of 2020, as the company saw demand grow during the global Covid 19 pandemic.
Ethio Telecom posted revenues of $1.35 billion (47.7 Billion ETB), which surpassed the 105 per cent renvenue target for the previous period.
Ethio Telecom also managed to raise $147.7 million from international business, representing 107 per cent for its foreign currency targets, showing an increase of 50 per cent from the previous budget year.
“This achievement is made possible because of the new commercial and technical solutions deployed to prevent telecom fraud through establishing collaborations with our international partners in a consistent and in a manner that ensures mutual benefit,” an Ethio Telecom spokesperson said.
Mobile voice services accounted for 49 per cent of the total revenues, according to the company’s report, while Data and Internet contributed 29 per cent.
The remaining revenues were derived from International business shares (9 per cent), Value Added Service (9.4 per cent), with the remaining 3.6 per cent coming from other sources.
Ethiopia continues to be under the international spotlight as the country prepares to open up its telecoms market to international investment.
Last month, the country’s telecoms regulatory body confirmed that it had received expressions of interest (EOIs) from 12 companies, including nine international telcos, for two telecommunication licenses set to be auctioned off by the government.
The Ethiopian Communication Authority noted that it had received EOIs from some of the world’s biggest telcos, including Global Partnership for Ethiopia (a consortium of telecom operators made of Vodafone, Vodacom, and Safaricom), Etisalat, Axian, MTN, Orange, Saudi Telecom Company, Telkom SA, Liquid Telecom, Snail Mobile, and the two non-telecom operators, Kandu Global Telecommunications and Electromecha International Projects.
The Ethiopian government is set to auction off two 15 year licences to prospective mobile network operators to provide services across the country. The licences are expected to raise over $1 billion in revenues for the government.
Later this year, CommsMEA and the ITP Tech Division will host their first Digital Africa summit. The online event will explore the plethora of challenges and opportunities for operators and vendors looking to bring life changing connectivity and services to over a billion people. The online event will span three days and will include insights from all of Africa’s key connectivity players.
For speaking opportunities, please contact Chris Kelly, Editor of CommsMEA at chris.kelly@itp.com.
For commercial opportunities, including sponsorship and marketing packages, please contact Thomas Lambert, Sales Manager for the ITP Tech Group at Thomas.Lambert@itp.com
