CEO Peter Ndegwa to deploy Kenyan staff to help boost Safaricom’s Ethiopia operations

In a bid to introduce high-level expertise and technological know-how to its Ethiopian operations, Safaricom is set to deploy its Kenyan staff to run the new market.

In a statement, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said: “We will need to second several people to be able to inject the level of expertise, both on the technology side, but also on the commercial side.”

With the move, the company plans to achieve high network coverage in the Horn of Africa market, which has a population of more than 100 million people and a relatively lower uptake of mobile and Internet services.

According to Business Daily, the Ethiopian unit will have its own CEO, executive team and management team.

In May, a Vodafone consortium, including Safaricom Plc, submitted a $850-million bid for licenses in Africa’s second-most populous country, Ethiopia. The move aligned with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s plan to open Ethiopia to more significant foreign investment, while potentially allowing the telecom giants to tap into the market.

The Kenyan-based telecom company will gain control of a 40-percent stake in Ethio Telecom, a state-controlled firm. The company is proposing to build a high-quality mobile network as opposed to just competing on price.

“The fundamental to our success in that market is building a great quality network. Once we do that, we believe that the digital services that we can offer to our customers will enable customer stickiness,” Safaricom CFO Dilip Pal said.

Safaricom has seen a surge in investors since announcing the Ethiopian deal. This has increased the value of its shares on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.