Ethiopia launches tender process to sell 40% stake in Ethio Telecom

As part of Ethiopian authorities' plan to open up the country's economy, the government began a bidding process on Monday for the proposed sell-off of a 40% stake in state-owned carrier Ethio Telecom to private investors.

Investors have 30 days to express their interest before a second phase of the process is launched, during which bids will be expected.

The partial privatization of Ethio Telecom aims to make the company, which has some 44 million subscribers out of a total population of about 110 million in Ethiopia, more efficient.

This year, Ethiopia carried out a first reform in telecommunications by launching a tender for two licenses, paving the way for the end of Ethio Telecom's monopoly, one of the last in the world in this sector.

At the end of May, one of the licenses was awarded to a consortium led by Kenya's Safaricom, which offered $850 million and also plans to invest $8.5 million over ten years, according to the authorities.