Orange Eyes Ethiopia Move in Battle for New African Market
Orange Eyes Ethiopia Move, Final Frontier in African Telecoms
(Bloomberg) -- Orange SA is considering a bid for a minority stake in Ethiopia’s state-owned phone monopoly as Africa’s second-most populous country prepares to welcome foreign telecommunications investors for the first time.
The French carrier is also open to becoming a rival carrier to Ethio Telecom by taking part in an auction for a new privately held mobile-phone license, Deputy Chief Executive Officer Ramon Fernandez said in an interview in London on Friday. Both options are likely to be made available by next year.
The Ethiopian government is working with advisers on how to open the country’s telecommunications market to outside investors, Fernandez said. The prospect has attracted vocal interest from the biggest wireless carriers operating in Africa, including MTN Group Ltd., Vodacom Group Ltd. and Paris-based Orange.
Orange’s Africa CEO, Alioune Ndiaye, traveled to Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa last week to meet local officials and other interested bidders, Fernandez said. The investment prospect is one of the last major economies to liberalize the telecoms industry, he said. “We’ll see what’s the best option for us.”
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced his intention to privatize large swathes of the economy shortly after winning power in the former communist country in April of last year. The telecommunications industry is seen as among the most attractive of those that could be opened up, given the country’s population of 100 million people and potential for data services and mobile-money growth.
“It’s a major reform for any government and it’s going to be a long process,” Fernandez said, adding that the privatization could take place this year or next. “We are ready. We are just waiting for the next steps to be carried out.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Seal in London at tseal@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, John Bowker, Thomas Pfeiffer
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