Safaricom and Japan's Sumitomo have been awarded telecommunication licenses to operate in Ethiopia, one of the world's major closed communication markets, the Ethiopian government announced on Saturday
"The Council of Ministers has unanimously made a historic decision today allowing Ethiopian Communications Authority to grant a new nationwide telecom license to the Global Partnership for Ethiopia which offered the highest licensing fee and a very solid investment case," Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Twitter.
According to Brook Taye, an adviser to Ethiopia's Finance Ministry the consortium which includes Safaricom parent companies Vodacom and Vodafone and the British development finance agency CDC group paid 91.9 billion for the license.
Safaricom and South Africa's MTN Group were the only two companies that had submitted bids for the licence.
MTN Group however was edged out with its 64.9 billion bid for the license deemed the lowest.
The Safaricom led consortium is expected to set up 1.5 million jobs, bring $8.5 billion in investment over 10 years.
The telco will also be tasked with providing 4G and 5G internet services and by 2023 launch a low orbit satellite to provide nationwide 4G coverage.
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