Safaricom Ethiopia switches on its network and services in Addis Ababa

Safaricom Ethiopia has today switched on its mobile telecommunications network and services in Addis Ababa, the country's capital city.

Safaricom Ethiopia's 2G, 3G and 4G mobile services are available in 11 cities from today, including the capital and the country's second largest city Dire Dawa. The company plans to launch services in a total of 25 cities by April 2023 to meet the 25% population coverage obligation in its licence. Safaricom Ethiopia is building a wholly-owned mobile network and also has infrastructure sharing and interconnection agreements in place with Ethio Telecom. Safaricom Ethiopia's vision is to transform lives through a digital future for all Ethiopians.

Safaricom Ethiopia is owned by an international consortium including Vodafone Group; Safaricom; Vodacom Group; Sumitomo Corporation - one of the largest international trading and business investment companies; and British International Investment (BII) - the UK's development finance institution and impact investor. This is the first joint investment project to be realised under the strategic alliance agreed by Vodafone and Sumitomo in November 2020.

Nick O'Donohoe, Chief Executive Officer of BII, said: "The launch of Safaricom Ethiopia will deliver development impact at a country-wide level. It will transform the economic prospects for millions of Ethiopians and go a long way to alleviating data-poverty in the country."