Ethiopia has issued Kenya’s telecom giant Safaricom a license to operate mobile money services, the first foreign firm to get such a permit in the populous nation.
Safaricom launched in August last year its operations in Ethiopia, which for years had been one of the largest closed market in the African continent.
The state-owned Ethio telecom had been the sole provider of telecom and mobile money services for a country. Addis Ababa opened its market in 2021 for international bidders, granting a consortium led by Safaricom a licence to operate in the country.
Safaricom chief executive Peter Ndegwa said the company would roll out mobile financial services in the country before the end of this year.