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The Ethiopian government issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the telecommunications operator license on November 27, 2020 and interested bidders can purchase the bidding documents from the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) for USD 15,000. , it was revealed.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, November 27, 2020 at the facilities of the Ministry of Finance, the state Finance Minister, Eyob Tekalegne (PhD), said that this offer will remain afloat for 90 days and companies that have the intention to participate in the offer. You must purchase the document that establishes the qualitative and financial capacity requirements of the bidding operators.
For this purchase, any operator must first send a letter indicating their intention to bid until December 10, 2020.
The announcement of the CEPA Request for Proposal indicates that the telecommunications sector has been undergoing a reform whose objectives “are to expand reliable and accessible communications for all Ethiopians in order to improve the economic and social development of the country and promote a rapid economic transformation and growth. “
Explaining that, “increased connectivity will lead to improvements in the quality of life of Ethiopians and maximize the opportunities presented by the digital economy, the ECA said it intends to award two comprehensive awards” at the national level. telecommunications services licenses through a competitive bidding process ”.
Accordingly, the offering is said to be “targeted at world-class telecommunications operators to become the new licensees within Ethiopia’s fast-growing economy.”
The RFP will be published locally in large-circulation publications as well as in the Financial Times on Monday and bidders must submit their proposals by March 5, 2020.
At the press conference, Balcha Reba (Eng.), ECA CEO, said that this is part of the government reform measures of the last two years during which 18 directives were prepared to regulate the telecommunications sector. Fourteen of these directives were prepared after public consultations to obtain comments from interested parties.
Recalling that in a previous announcement of expression of interest, operators from Asia, Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Africa had shown their interests, Balcha said that the tender will close at 10:00 am on March 5, 2020. and it opened the same day at 11:00 am ET.
Eyob, for his part, said that to achieve a strong telecommunications sector, the government has decided to open the market to competition and strengthen ethio-telecom to prepare for competition by selling 40 percent of its shares to investors.
In this regard, the government has followed a 2 + 1 approach in which two operators, in addition to the state operator, would enter the market and provide full telecommunications services, he said. According to Eyob, the bidding process will be highly competitive and transparent.
Eyob also said they have hired consultants to study how much the country would get from the sale of spectrum and this finding has been triangulated with other similar evaluations to get a clear idea of what could be gained from the sale.
This tender will be open to all operators interested in entering the market and will not be limited to operators who expressed interest in a previous announcement.
“The two winners will work together with ethio-telecom,” he said. “We have made significant progress on the liberalization side.”
According to Eyob, operators around the world have shown interest in bidding for the licenses.
“This is the last frontier when it comes to telecommunications,” Eyob added.
The evaluation process includes critical financial and qualitative criteria that were identified from three sets of assessments to get a clear picture of what the country could get from license sales. Hence, in this process, the next three months are critical, he added.
Once the tender is closed, the evaluation / valuation of the bidders’ bids will be completed within 40 days after which the first telecommunications operating licenses will be issued.
Eyob also made it clear that licensed operators will be allowed to build their own infrastructure, but independent power and tower companies will not be allowed to build and rent infrastructure due to ethio-telecom’s huge investment in the sector that can accommodate your operation and the operations of new entrants. But since the banking sector is reserved for Ethiopians only, no operator will be able to dabble in mobile banking.
The state minister said the operation in Tigray, which he said aims to kill an illegal group that wanted to wreak havoc both at home and abroad, should not affect investors’ interests or the offer price. Rather, since avoiding such groups reduces uncertainty, it should improve interest rates, he added. But, as investors were concerned about the matter, the Finance Ministry together with the ECA had briefed potential bidders last Monday to explain what is on the ground, it was revealed.
