Ethiopia, the second-most populated country in Africa, now has Safaricom Ethiopia’s network and services operational. The telecom network had a launch ceremony that was graced by Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, and Kenyan President, William Ruto, who flew in for the occasion. Also attended were senior Safaricom and Vodacom executives, including Safaricom CEO, Peter Ndegwa, and Vodacom Group CEO, Shameel Josuub.
The highlight of the celebration was the announcement that Ethiopia was also granting the telecommunications provider a license to introduce its successful mobile money service, M-PESA, to the 115 million populace.
M-PESA is anticipated to present Telebirr, the only mobile money provider in Ethiopia that just began operations in May 2021, with fierce competition. Similar to Safaricom, Telebirr is controlled by state-owned telco Ethio Telcom, which served as the only operator prior to the entry of Safaricom in July 2021.
After investing $850 million through a consortium made up of Safaricom PLC, Vodafone Group, Vodacom Group, Sumitomo Corporation, and British International Investment, Safaricom claimed to have completed successful customer network pilots in 10 locations around Ethiopia.
Anwar Soussa, CEO of Safaricom Ethiopia stated,
“Building on the phased city-by-city customer pilots, we continue to invest in providing network and services to further cities and parts of the country in accordance with the obligations of our Unified Telecommunications Services License.”
The Safaricom network in Ethiopia is currently available in Dire Dawa, Harar, Haramaya, Adama, Bahir Dar, Bishoftu, Mojo, Debre Birhan, Awoday, Gondar, and Addis Ababa.
Safaricom announced that it is providing 4G data, voice, and SMS services for individuals in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as cheap phones for purchase and international calls between Safaricom Ethiopia and Ethio Telecom users.
Safaricom added that the rollout of the national network will proceed and is anticipated to cover 14 more cities by April 2023.