03 January 2020

The world’s largest telecom monopoly has moved a major step closer to privatisation after Ethiopia launched a search for an adviser on the sale of a stake in its national operator.

Ethio Telecom, whose 44 million subscribers give it the biggest single-country customer base of any operator in the continent, is the big attraction in a major privatisation programme that will open the nation’s market to foreign investment for the first time ever.

The transaction adviser, which the government hopes to appoint in the next few weeks, will help it structure the process, determine a minimum value and select the right partner, according to Eyob Tolina, the minister leading Ethiopia’s economic liberalisation.

Ethio Telecom, which generated revenues last year of (US$1.2bn), had separately appointed KPMG to assist with its own valuation of the business, the minister said.

While the government has previously signalled only that it would sell a minority stake of up to 49% he said it now had a specific number in mind and that the adviser would help gauge market sentiment.

International companies including Vodafone, MTN, Orange, Etisalat and Zain have all expressed interest in gaining access to what is regarded as Ethiopia’s fastest-growing market.

Ethio Telecom is one of the so-called “Big-5” group of state owned corporations in the east African nation, alongside Ethiopian Airlines, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Ethio-Insurance, and the Ethiopian Shipping Lines.