Within the year, Safaricom plans to begin commercial operations in Ethiopia. While releasing the telco’s Full Year 2021/2022 results last week, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa confirmed this.
Safaricom Ethiopia has hired approximately 300 people, 50 percent of whom are locals, in preparation for the commercial launch, with ambitions to increase to 1,000 in the next financial year. The company has also hired distributors, acquired four retail sites, and opened Addis Ababa’s first outsourced call center.
Safaricom Ethiopia has also obtained approvals for the construction of towers, constructed two data centers, made the first test call, sent the first test SMS, and finished the first data session.
“We have made significant progress towards a commercial launch. We are engaging with the Ethiopian Communications Authority and other relevant partners about the requirements for ensuring a commercial launch this year,” Mr Ndegwa said.
Mr Ndegwa said Safaricom Ethiopia plans to bring mobile financial services to Ethiopia. However, this is subject to the licensing and regulatory process by the Government of Ethiopia.
Safaricom increased its Service Revenue by 12.3% to KES 281.11 Billion and Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) by 13.5% to KES 109.13 Billion. Voice service revenue grew by 0.8% to KES 83.21 Billion; mobile data revenue grew by 8.1% to KES 48.44 Billion, while M-PESA revenue grew by 30.3% to KES 107.69 Billion.
