MTN Group and a Vodafone Group Plc-led consortium have submitted bids to obtain permits to operate in Africa’s second-most populous country, Ethiopia.
MTN Group is Africa’s largest telecom company.
MTN Group put in a $600-million bid in partnership with The Silk Road Fund of China, while the Vodafone consortium, which includes the major Kenyan telecom company Safaricom Plc, submitted a $850-million bid, Bloomberg reported.
The move potentially allowing the telecom giants to tap into the market aligns with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s plan to open Ethiopia to greater foreign investment.
The government is now examining the results of what has been a bureaucratic bidding process for the licenses and could sell part of the state-owned monopoly, Ethiopian Telecommunication Corp, cancel the bidding outright and restart anew, or award one or both of the companies licenses. An announcement will be made in the coming days, Bloomberg reported.
“We think we have received strong offers. However, there was a 29.4-percent difference between the highest and second-highest offers,” Ethiopian Communication Authority General Director Balcha Reba said.
Meanwhile, Brook Taye, an advisor to the Finance Ministry, said either one or both of the telecom giants will receive a license to start operations in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia, which is Africa’s most populated country after Nigeria with more than 110 million people, is a promising mobile market, with about 50.7 million subscribers.
According to the International Monetary Fund, Ethiopia is projected to grow by 8.7 percent next year, making it the fastest-growing economy on the continent.
