by Nurat Uthman
Ethiopia’s state-owned telecommunications company has started selling shares to the public, in a move aimed at establishing a new national stock market and giving Ethiopians a stake in the company, one of the country’s largest and most profitable.
Ethio Telecom will be the first company listed on the new Ethiopian Securities Exchange, or ESX, which is set to begin operating in November. It will be the country’s first stock market since the 1970s.
Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that the 130-year-old Ethio Telecom is offering 10% of its shares to the public, 100 million shares in all.
Investors, who must be Ethiopian nationals, can buy up to 3,333 shares of the company at a price of 300 birr, or about $2.50 per share.
CEO Frehiwot Tamiru said the company will now be called Ethio Telecom PLC.
“Today marks a significant milestone as we launch the sale of Ethio Telecom shares, an essential step in our ongoing journey from political revolution to evolution over the past six years,” Abiy said in a post on X.
He said offering the shares lays “the groundwork for Ethiopia’s stock market and expanding access to ownership in one of the nation’s leading state-owned enterprises, which has now evolved into a share company.”
