Telco Business Review, Q1 2022
Q1 of 2022 has been positive (especially now Covid-19 seems to be on the way out). It's been business as usual in Addis Ababa despite talks of war across the news media. In this quarterly review, I will discuss what's happened in Ethiopia's teleco industry since January.
A lot has gone on in Ethiopia's Telecommunications market since our last update. Things really got going late 2021 when Safaricom's leadership met with Government officials at the EIC (Ethiopian Investment Commission), Ministry of Finance and ECA (Ethiopian Communications Authority). Kenya (where Safaricom originates) has played an important role in activities so far and its ambassador here, Jean Kamau, was praised by CEO Peter Ndgewa for her work around Safaricom's forthcoming operational launch (April 2022).
Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia PLC, also known as The Global Partnership, has built up an impressive leadership team since it's inception. They include:
Managing Director - Anwar Soussa has a wealth?of experience in telecommunications with a special focus on emerging markets. He was MD at Vodacom DRC (Congo) and a Chairperson for M-PESA. Prior to this he served as the CEO of Airtel in Uganda and Chad.
Chief Strategy Officer - Masahiro Miyashita ?has over 30 years' telco experience as General Manager of ?Sumitomo Corporation's Smart Communication Platform Business Division. He also sits on the board of multiple telecom companies across the World.
Chief Technology Officer - Pedro Rabacal has been with Vodacom for 22 years, spending most of that time as CTO for Vodacom Mozambique. Prior to this, he led several key portfolios within Vodacom South Africa and has always pushed new technologies forward.
Chief Consumer Business Officer - Charles Wanjohi has over 19 years commercial experience from multinational companies across Africa. Most of this involved working with telecom companies such as Celtel Kenya, Zain Kenya, Zain Group, Airtel Africa and Airtel.
Chief Enterprise Business Officer - Chris Lazarus was part of Vodacom South Africa since 2005 as Managing Executive for the KwaZulu Natal Region. He has over two decades of experience in the Information, Communications Technology and Financial Services sectors.
Chief Financial Services Officer - Paul Kavavu is Head of M-PESA new Business Ventures. He has 19 years experience in mobile money innovation, strategy formulation and execution. Joined Safaricom in 2002 from Absa Bank, formerly Barclays Bank of Kenya.
Chief Sales & Distribution Officer - Andarge Kabtimer has over 20 years’ experience across various Ethiopian sectors including FMCG, oil & gas + financial institutions. He held a similar role at the Meta Abo Brewery (Diageo) and was a senior member of staff at CBE.
Chief Finance Officer - Stanley Njoroge has he held various senior roles Diageo for the past 13 years. He was Finance & Strategy Director at Guinness Nigeria PLC and also spent eight years' working at Deloitte in their tax consultancy department for Kenya and Ethiopia.?
Chief Human Resources Officer - Mokaya Mokaya has 16 years experience in Talent Management, Capability Development, Organizational Effectiveness, Change Management and General HR. He joined Safaricom in 2007 including a 2 years-stint at Vodafone India.
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Chief Legal & Risk Officer - Julie Arndt has over 20 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry within senior leadership. She was head of Legal Compliance Reviews and ISO Audit Assurance within the Vodacom Group Risk and Compliance team.
Chief Regulatory & External Affairs Officer - Matthew Harrison-Harvey held several senior legal, regulatory, and external affairs roles within Vodafone. Since 2013 his work has been Africa-focused and was instrumental in the successful Ethiopian license bid last year.
Director, Project Management Office - Koichi Kawase was Chief Strategy Officer in the largest?telecommunication operators across Mongolia and Myanmar. He has spent close to 30 years at Sumitomo Corp' and has also led various Digital / Fintech investment projects.
In January, Safaricom Ethiopia's CTO, Pedro Raba?al announced the construction of a new data centre in Addis Ababa. Costing $100 million, it will reach 25% of the population by 2023 and is part of this year's $300 million plan. The prefabricated building was reportedly built in China over a number of weeks, before being transported to Addis Ababa via sea.?Last year, Raxio Group also began construction of a data centre in Ethiopia's ICT Park.
In its latest tenders, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia PLC?received 400+ applications out of which 25 successful distribution partners were selected. 1,000 (direct & indirect) new jobs will have been created by Q2 of this year and 1.5 million jobs in 2032. Now's the time to get involved with this exciting market. Ethiopia offers an abundance of opportunity but currently ranks 160th on the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business chart. Bureaucracy and red tape are problems facing managers on a daily basis. Knowing what to do, when to do it and how is difficult so we've found a niche in assisting clients with this.
Financial Services and Mobile Money were originally barred for foreign companies operating in Ethiopia. However, last year the Government here opened it up to Safaricom - and whoever gets the second telco?license.?M-Pesa is Safaricom's Mobile Money App and it's expected to be available soon. The popular download allows people to deposit funds into an account stored on their cell phones and send/receive money. The service will compete with Ethio Telecom's Telebirr Application which has built 9.5 million?+ users since 2021.
This quarter Safaricom signed a five-year lease agreement with state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) to share dark fibre-optic infrastructure. EEP is expected to earn 140 million Ethiopian Birr (roughly €2.47 million) a year during phase one. Overall, just under 10,000km of cable is expected to be taken by Safaricom in three phases overall. It will be used for voice, data, video and text messages. Dark fibre is unused to can be hired out. As part of this recent deal, Safaricom will also deploy aerial fibre through existing electricity poles around the country. Aerial cabling is easier to repair and use over challenging terrain.
That rounds up Telco related business news for Q1 of 2022. Stay up to date with the industry and other business news from Teseteo by following us on LinkedIn - www.teseteo.com