06 October 2023

The Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) has extended the deadline for submitting qualifications for Ethiopia’s second private telecoms license (License B) “at the request of several potential investors.” The deadline which was set for 15 September has been extended to 6 October.

The initiative is part of the process of liberalization of the national telecoms market initiated by the Ethiopian government in 2020. The first stage saw the Global Partnership for Ethiopia (Safaricom Ethiopia) consortium acquire the country’s first private telecoms license. The second stage is underway and concerns the partial privatization of the historic operator Ethio Telecom up to 45%.

The last two stages of the liberalization of the Ethiopian telecoms market have attracted the interest of telecommunications giants. Orange, VEON, and Etisalat have officially declared their intention to operate in Ethiopia.