Orange has expressed an interest in acquiring a stake in the Ethiopian incumbent Ethio Telecom.
It has been widely reported that Henok Tereffa Shawl, Ethiopia’s ambassador to France, has said on Twitter that Orange has formally declared its wish to participate in the partial privatisation of the telco.
Meanwhile, Orange has been quoted by Les Echos as saying that “Ethiopia is a country with great potential for telecoms and digital development”.
Reuters reports that last month Ethiopia launched a tendering process for the proposed sell-off of 40% Ethio Telecom to private investors.
It adds that Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa and the privatisation is likely to attract significant interest.
As part of the privatisation process of the telecom sector in Ethiopia, the first private operator licence to a consortium led by Kenya’s Safaricom, Vodafone, and Japan’s Sumitomo was awarded by the authorities in May.
