DFC Approves $500m Loan to Vodafone

Jan 9 , 2021


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The United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has approved a loan to support Vodafone in its bid to acquire a telecom license in the soon-to-be-opened Ethiopian market. The loan could go up to half a billion dollars in value should Vodafone manage to win the bid. The loan will go toward financing the design, development and operation of a new private mobile network provider along with the acquisition of a mobile network provider license. Etisalat, Axian, MTN, Orange, Saudi Telecom Company, Telkom SA, Liquid Telecom, Snail Mobile, Kandu Global Communications, and Electromecha International Projects have also expressed interest in entering the Ethiopian market. The bidding process, which was launched for the issuance of two licenses by the Ethiopian Communications Authority, will be closed on March 5, 2021. And the Authority plans to issue the license before the end of March.


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