Ethio Telecom reports 18.4% rise in full-year revenue -CEO
13/07/2021 10:43
ADDIS ABABA, July 13 (Reuters) - State-run Ethio Telecom,
which has invited private investors to buy a stake in it,
reported a 18.4% rise in full year revenue to end-June to 56.5
billion birr ($1.29 billion), CEO Frehiwot Tamiru said on
Tuesday.
Ethiopia last month launched a tendering process for the
proposed sell-off of a 40% stake in Ethio Telecom to private
investors, part of the government's broader plan to open up the
Horn of Africa country's telecoms sector. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2NW0A9
On Tuesday, Frehiwot told reporters the company recorded a
22% jump in subscribers to 56.2 million.
She also said 6.58 million customers had signed up to use
its mobile money service, known as Telebirr, which it launched
in May. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2MY40W
The platform allows users to send and receive money, deposit
or take out cash at appointed agents, pay bills to merchants and
receive cash sent from abroad.
The CEO said the expansion of 4G services outside the
capital Addis Ababa was one of the reasons behind the jump in
revenue despite it being a challenging year.
"When we started the budget year the internet was shutdown
and we lost billions because of this. And the crisis in the
northern region Tigray was also something we didn't
anticipate," Frehiwot said.
The telecoms business in Ethiopia, a country with a
population of more than 100 million people, has attracted
investors, although some have been put off by the slow pace of
economic change and risks linked to ethnic unrest and a conflict
in the Tigray region. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2NT407
In May, regulators awarded an operating licence to a
consortium led by Kenya's Safaricom SCOM.NR , Vodafone VOD.L ,
and Japan's Sumitomo 8053.T . The group paid $850 million for
the licence. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2NW0A9
($1 = 43.9507 birr)
(Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw; writing by Omar Mohammed; editing
by George Obulutsa and Jason Neely)
((omar.mohammed@thomsonreuters.com; +254 20 499 1232; Reuters
Messaging: omar.mohammed.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))