Business Safaricom on track for full coverage in eastern Ethiopia by October
September 14, 2024
Executives at Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia say the company will begin offering full coverage of eastern Ethiopia by the end of next month, marking a significant milestone two years after launch and nearly three-and-a-half years into its 15-year license.
Safaricom Ethiopia first set foot in eastern Ethiopia when it launched services in Dire Dawa in August 2022 as part of a pilot program ahead of its commercial launch in Addis Ababa.
This week, the operator launched its services in 32 towns under its Chiro cluster, which boasts a network of 114 towers. Safaricom’s clusters are comparable to the districts under competitor Ethio telecom.
The company plans to make Harar, Somali, and eastern Oromia part of its network before the end of October, according to Tewedaj Sintayehu, head of internal communications at Safaricom Ethiopia.
“We will reach full coverage in eastern Ethiopia soon,” Tewedaj told The Reporter. “Intensive expansion is underway in every direction. We are well ahead of our coverage obligations.”
Safaricom is partnering with industry giants Nokia and Huawei in its network expansion drive. Safaricom Ethiopia currently offers coverage in more than 500 towns and 25 major urban areas across the country.
The operator has 4.4 million 90-day active voice customers and 2.8 million 90-day active data customers, according to a quarterly report published in May 2024.
Safaricom’s M-PESA mobile money service has managed to attract 4.5 million customers, close to 63,000 merchants, and 26,000 agents.
The firm operates 1,340 towers in partnership with Ethio telecom as part of a network infrastructure sharing deal, while it has close to 1,500 of its own towers set up across Ethiopia.
The quarterly report indicates a 17 percent drop in Safaricom Ethiopia’s capex, while Safaricom’s (Kenya) capex went up 17.2 percent.
Safaricom Ethiopia was formed after the Global Partnership for Ethiopia, a consortium composed of Kenya’s Safaricom, Vodafone, and the Japanese Sumitomo, acquired Ethiopia’s first telecom operator’s license in May 2021 for a USD 850 million fee.
The company entered the market with USD 1.6 billion in funding, of which USD 100 million is owed to the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).
In April this year, CEO Wim Vanhelleputte revealed plans to invest USD 1.5 billion in a massive network expansion project slated to last until 2027.
Safaricom Ethiopia is obliged to cover a quarter of the Ethiopian population by 2025 as part of the terms of its licensing.