(Ecofin Agency) - Safaricom has officially launched its commercial operations in Ethiopia. The company's offering includes voice, data, and SMS. It will soon launch mobile money services.

Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia (STE) wants to provide mobile financial services via its M-Pesa mobile money platform in Ethiopia in addition to cell phone services. To this end, the operator received approval from the Ethiopian government on Thursday, October 6, during the ceremony for the official launch of its commercial activities. 

The approval enables Safaricom to begin the process aimed at securing a mobile payment service provider license from the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE).

Safaricom acquired Ethiopia's first private telecom license in July 2021. The license did not include mobile money services, partly because Ethiopian law did not allow foreign investors to operate in the Ethiopian financial sector. In April 2022, the NBE announced a bill amending financial laws to allow foreign investors to offer mobile money services in the Ethiopian telecom market.

In the Ethiopian mobile money segment, M-Pesa will notably compete with Telebirr, the mobile money services launched by incumbent operator Ethio Telecom. Telebirr was launched in May 2021, but, within weeks, it attracted four million users and has more than 21 million users now. The introduction of M-Pesa is expected to bring more competition, increased innovation in value-added services, and improved service quality. It will also bring more revenues for the government. 

Isaac K. Kassouwi