NAIROBI: State-run Ethio Telecom, expected to be partly sold off as Ethiopia liberalises its economy, reported a 12% rise in first-half revenue to end-December to 25.6 billion birr ($650 million), it said on Thursday.
The government said last year it will retain a 55% stake in Ethio Telecom, with 40% going to international companies and the remainder to local investors.
Ethio Telecom said mobile voice services contributed 49% of the revenue and data services some 26%.
The company plans to launch mobile money services soon, it said, but did not give a timeframe.
In June, the telecoms regulator said it had received 12 bids for two telecom licences the government plans to award to multinational companies.
The regulator has not given a deadline for when it will award the licences.
Ethiopia’s telecoms industry is considered the big prize in a push to liberalise the economy as a protected market which serves more than 110 million people.
