President Uhuru Kenyatta has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for an official visit during which he is scheduled to witness the issuance of a telecommunications license to Safaricom consortium.
President Kenyatta, who is accompanied by Cabinet Secretaries Raychelle Omamo (Foreign Affairs) and Joe Mucheru (ICT), was received at Bole International Airport by his host, Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed Ali.
The President hailed PM Abiy for continuing to open up the Ethiopian economy to private sector participation saying, the country will benefit immensely from Safaricom’s entry.
On his part, PM Abiy reiterated his Administration’s commitment to economic reforms noting that competition in telecommunications will positively impact other sectors of the economy.
An international consortium led by Safaricom, and comprising of Vodafone and Vodacom, UK’s CDC Group and Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, won a Shs 91.8 billion bid to operate in Ethiopia.
The Global Partnership for Ethiopia consortia, led by Safaricom PLC will invest over Shs 864 billion in 10 years, making it the largest FDI into the over 112 million population economy.