Ethiopia fails to attract any bids for third telecom license

Ethiopia failed to attract any bids for a third wireless license, according to people with knowledge of the matter, amid concerns about conflict in parts of the Horn of Africa nation.

The process to sell a permit is likely to be put on hold, said the people who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public yet. Ethiopia sold its first license to a group led by Kenya’s Safaricom Plc in 2021, and subsequently rejected MTN Group Ltd.’s $600-million bid for a second permit.

Ethiopia’s plan to lure investors is being stymied by concerns about instability in several regions of the most-populated nation in Africa after Nigeria, a year after it emerged from a civil war.

Despite a cease-fire deal between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, a United Nations panel last month said the nation faces a high risk of further atrocities because of instability in several regions.

Hinjat Shamil, a senior adviser at the Ministry of Finance who’s overseeing the bidding process, didn’t answer calls seeking comment.

The Safaricom group that included the UK’s Vodafone Group Plc and its African unit Vodacom Group Ltd., has spent $1.6 billion to start operations in Ethiopia.