Telecom license award marks historic moment in Kenya-Ethiopia mutual prosperity drive: President Kenyatta

Addis Ababa, June 9, 2021 (FBC) – Addressing the unveiling of the license to the Global Partnership for Ethiopia Consortium, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyata said the decision made by the Ethiopian government to grant an operating license to the Global Partnership for Ethiopia, a consortium with a majority share shareholding of Kenya Safaricom is a historic moment in the two countries’ cherished journey for mutual prosperity.

“Kenya’s presence here today is not only a testimony of our long standing good, neighborly and brotherly relations between Ethiopia and Kenya, but also between our two peoples. It is indeed a visible reminder of the deep bonds that hold Kenya and Ethiopia together” President Uhuru said.

“Today’s event builds on the mutual commitments made by our respective governments” he added.

“During my visit to Ethiopia in March of 2019, the Prime Minister promised a number of deliverables as top ten on your agenda. Among them included your government’s commitment to promote and attracting foreign investment as specifically taking significant steps to improve relations between Kenya and Ethiopia, in the area of cross border trade, tourism, energy, infrastructure, among others” Uhuru remarked.

Ethiopia has showed commitment to opening up the Kenya-Moyale border and growing it into an economic hub for East Africa. In addition to accelerating efforts that were already underway, to fast track the LAPSSET corridor project, the president said.

Kenyan private sector attracted to capitalize on the untapped investment opportunities in Ethiopia, he said, adding: “I believe today ceremony is indeed a testimony of the progress that we are making towards economic cooperation between our two nations.”

“This was in fulfillment of our commitment to fast track steps towards making Moyale town the economic hub of our region” Uhuru stressed.

The LAPSSET corridor is a key regional project that has numerous opportunities for not only Kenya but Ethiopia, but also South Sudan, among other countries on our continent, he underlined.

“It is my hope and my desire that we shall continue to actualize on the special status agreement between our two countries. The purpose of this special status agreement is to enhance bilateral relations between our two countries in all spheres of life. It is a fact that in reality, we are not two peoples, but rather, we are one people connected by history, culture, development aspirations and many more” he paraphrased.

Ethiopia and Kenya are duty bound to build on the shared history, the common values, similar dreams, and deep connections of family, friendship, and business to bring their people closer together, the president underscored.

“Kenya has seen the great gains and opportunities unleashed by Safaricom across the entirety of our social economic landscape. Ethiopia now stands at the cusp of making even greater strides in Safaricom’s areas of strength, which include digital presence, mobile money, telephony, data on fiber connectivity, as well as business, agricultural Health Solutions, amongst others. I do believe that this consortium plans to inject more than 8 billion US dollars over the next 10 years, making it the largest single investment that Ethiopia has attracted to date”, he said.

“But more importantly, the digital transformation that is expected to arise from this investment will be a game changer for all segments of the Ethiopian economy, from the provision of essential government services, right down to accessibility of markets and information for farmers. This has been Kenya’s own experience, and I am certain that it will be Ethiopia’s experience as well”, the President said.

“Mobile financial services are also key in addressing various societal disparities. In particular gender related disparities, right from the village to the city’s financial services have been made possible by mobile financial platforms”, he added.

Women have become particularly empowered by the services and are now able to participate meaningfully in the economy alongside men. This is an area we must devote our collective efforts as we usher in the digital economy, Uhuru noted.

“Beyond service provision, we take pride in Safaricom as a key enabler of self-employment, enterprise and dreams indications are that by opening your economy to Safaricom, and its consortium members, Ethiopia will, in the short and medium term will witness no less than 1.5 million formal jobs”, he stated.

President Uhuru reiterated commitment to ensure that the business investment environment is conducive for telecom operations. “This is the reason why as leaders, we are busy in building roads, railways, and other forms of infrastructure to open up previously inaccessible areas to businesses”