Vodafone Consortium, MTN Group Bid for Ethiopian Licenses

(Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia received bids for telecommunications licenses from MTN Group Ltd. and a consortium led by Vodafone Group Plc, according to Brook Taye, an adviser in the Finance Ministry.

“We always wanted quality providers and this is what we have received,” Taye said on phone. “These are two African giants -- the Safaricom-led consortium and MTN -- either one or two of the operators will get a license in Ethiopia.”

Ethiopia will take a few days to review the technical offer and then open the financial bids, he said. The government is looking to award two full-service telecommunication licenses as part of its plan to attract more foreign investment to its economy.

Earlier on Monday, Kenya’s largest telecommunications provider Safaricom Plc said it was bidding for one license jointly with Vodafone and the U.K. carrier’s South African unit Vodacom Group Ltd. Others in the consortium include CDC Group Plc and Sumitomo Corp., it said in a notice in Nairobi-based Daily Nation newspaper. The members may invest through special purpose investment vehicles, according to the statement.

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