11 August 2020

Ernst & Young, Deloitte, PwC and Roland Berger are competing to oversee the privatisation process of Ethio Telecom.

The Ethiopian government will soon announce the consultant hired to over- see the partial privatisation of Ethio Telecom, with Ernst & Young, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Roland Berger in the running. At the end of September 2019, the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance, the department which manages the pre-privatisation process of Ethio Tel- ecom, launched a call for expressions of interest to recruit an international company which will oversee the process of partial privatisation of the telecommunications operator.

KPMG, which is already evaluating the assets of Ethio Telecom, has been disqualified due to a conflict of interest, which could arise following its current contract with the operator. KPMG was hired in August 2019 to conduct the valuation of the assets of the public telecoms company. 

The consultant chosen by the Ministry of Finance will be retained for approximately 14 months and will undertake due diligence to verify the company’s financial position, potential litigation, taxes, contracts and will recommend a workable privatization process for Ethio Telecom. The consultant will also be involved in the preparation of tender documents for the partial privatisation, will examine the initial evaluation of the assets, will identify the selection criteria for the bidders. The govern- ment has decided to sell 40% of Ethio Telecom for privatisation.