Safaricom completes Ethiopia entry, to operate as ‘Safaricom Ethiopia’

Telecommunications firm Safaricom has completed its entry into the Ethiopian market and will now operate as Safaricom Ethiopia. This is after the Ethiopian government incorporated and registered the business unit.

The Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia PLC is the name designated to the new company set up in Ethiopia by the Global Partnership for Ethiopia, a consortium which won a bid to set up a telco enterprise in the country.

The new unit has been granted a nationwide full-service unified telecommunications service license effective from July 9 and lasting through a 15-year term.

The license shall be renewable for a term of 15 years subject to the fulfillment of license obligations issued by the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA).

Safaricom and partners who include parent firms Vodacom and Vodafone are expected to break ground on commercial operations in the country from January 2022.

The consortium operations is to be spearheaded by newly formed holding entities in which Safaricom holds a majority stake in.

At the same time, the consortium has since appointed Anwar Soussa as the Chief Executive to the Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia PLC.

Anwar Soussa appointed Managing Director, Safaricom Ethiopia

Soussa has been serving as Vodacom’s Managing Director in the Democratic Republic of Congo and as the Chairperson for Vodacash.