Jerome Henique, the CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, met with Eyob Tekalign, the State Minister of Finance, to discuss investment opportunities in the telecom sector and potential collaboration.

During the meeting, Jerome Henique expressed Orange's interest in the Ethiopian market and the wider region, citing the company's successful track record of investments in the African telecom market. The State Minister, on his part, provided an update on the telecom sector reforms that had been implemented over the past two years, including the entry of Safaricom Ethiopia, the transformation of Ethio-telecom, and improvements in the investment climate and regulatory environment. Both parties agreed to continue technical discussions to explore investment opportunities in the sector.

It is to be recalled that the Ministry of Finance made an invitation in February this year for the submission of proposal from interested parties to partially privatize Etho Telecom. The Ethiopian Government is willing to offer up to 45% of Ethio Telecom to the private sector increasing the current offer by 5% from 40% which was expressed in the invitation for expression of interest announced in November 2022 to partially privatize the telecom company. In November last year, the Government stated that the company which would win the bid announced by the Ministry of Finance would own 40% of the equity share capital of Ethio Telecom.

Orange is a leading telecommunications operator and digital service provider, serving 287 million customers, including individuals, professionals, and large companies. The company is also a top telecommunications operator for multinational companies under the Orange Business brand.

Source: Fana BC and 2Merkato Archives

Image source: Fana BC