Ethio Telecom revealed in its 2022/23 year profit more than doubled to ETB18.8 billion (US$344m) along with rising subscriber numbers and revenue, as the operator is poised for a stake sale.
Reuters reported, Ethio Telecom CEO Frehiwot Tamiru (pictured) said subscribers had grown from 8% to 72 million year-on-year and its mobile money platform Telebirr saw a rise from 27.2 million six months ago, to 34.4 million. Revenue grew 23% to ETB75.8 billion in the 2022.23 financial year.
Ethio Telecom announced in February it would offer a 45% stake to foreign investors, in what seems to be a strategy for growth in the face of fresh competition from Safaricom Ethiopia, a joint venture between British International Investment, Vodafone Group, Vodacom, Safaricom and Sumitomo Corporation.
Other big telecom names have looked at the opportunity, Bloomberg reported French telecoms group Orange and UAE-based e& are considering the stake. Ethiopia is an attractive opportunity for foreign investors due to its high population of 125 million people and is a greenfield opportunity due to the government recently opening its doors to privatisation.
