The partial privatization of Ethiotelecom is reinstated as the Ministry of Finance announced for Request for Proposal (RFP) last week. The Ministry announced a 45pc stake in the public enterprise would be availed to private investors, and a five percent stake to be floated to the general public. The Ministry floated a bid to call for expression of interest last November. According to officials, the call is open to interested parties, and not limited to companies that have already submitted an expression of interest. In 2019, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s (PhD) administration decided to partially privatize state-owned enterprises. A year later, Deloitte was hired as an advisor for the denationalisation of the state-owned telecom at a cost of 3.78 million dollars sourced from the World Bank. Ethiotelecom bagged 33.8 billion Br in revenues, showing a 20pc increase compared to the same period of the previous year. The net profit has reached 8.18 billion Br in the first half year of 2022/23. It has garnered 31.3 million internet users from a 70 million total customer base, showing a growth rate of 15.1pc from last year.

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