Vodacom eyes partnership with Safaricom in Ethiopia
Vodacom has been eyeing the Ethiopian market for years to diversify its earnings
Vodacom is eyeing an entry into Ethiopia, Africa’s fastest-growing and second-most populous country, in partnership with its Kenyan associate company, Safaricom, CEO Shameel Joosub says. The East African state, which said in June that it will open its state-run telecoms monopoly to foreign investors, is “probably the most attractive” potential new market for Vodacom, Joosub told Business Day on Monday after the group reported a slowdown in revenue growth in SA, its home market. “But the opportunities are not that clear yet — there are indications that Ethiopia will issue additional licences, and potentially take in a strategic partner for the existing [government-owned] Ethio Telecom, but there’s nothing yet in terms of actual processes and so on,” Joosub said.
Vodacom has been eyeing the Ethiopian market for years to diversify its earnings, which rely heavily on the SA market. In 2013 it opened an office in that country and secured a value-added service licence to provide all...
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