Following the announcement of Ethio telecom’s liberalization project, companies such as France’s Orange, South Africa’s MTN Group and Kenya’s Safaricom have all expressed interest in joining the industry which Ethiopia desires to uplift. So far, at least two operators are in the process of joining the sector, once they acquire licenses for operations.
Since the new administration came into power, privatization has been a bone of contention among the political elites as well as the public. On one side, some say certain sectors do not need to be privatized, while for some, they desperately need it. Among the sectors that call for much need assistance is the communications sector. After assuming leadership as the chairman of the then Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) Abiy Ahmed (PhD) was able to garner support in the party’s Central Committee (CC), to endorse the privatization of heavily guarded State-owned Enterprises (SoEs).
Later on, the decisions of the party’s CC resulted in the total or partial privatization, deregulation and denationalization of SoEs. Among the institutions, the partial privatization of the Ethiopian Airlines Group and Ethio telecom has drawn criticism; and this has forced the government to reconsider how to go about the privatization process of these state giants.
The partial privatization measure of Ethio telecom is looking at the sale of at least 40 percent of the state monopoly. It was made clear that the Sugar Corporation, owning some 10 factories under it, will be totally privatized along with the energy, logistics, and railway sectors that have proceeded with asset valuation reviews.
Following the announcement of Ethio telecom’s liberalization project, companies such as France’s Orange, South Africa’s MTN Group and Kenya’s Safaricom have all expressed interest in joining the industry which Ethiopia desires to uplift. So far, at least two operators are in the process of joining the sector, once they acquire licenses for operations.
Nevertheless, many argue that not everyone is convinced privatization is the best path forward and critical economic problems are not going to be solved, as intended, by the government. Earlier this year, with growing debates over the privatization of SoEs, media reports have suggested that the government is looking to earn somewhere in the region of USD eight billion, from the resulting transactions.
Last week, when the official invitation for expression of interests was announced, Brook Taye (PhD), senior advisor for the Ministry of Finance, told The Reporter that the government is expecting billions […]
