Government authorities in Djibouti have announced plans of selling some of their stake in the state-run telecoms monopoly, Djibouti Telecom. The move reflects Djibouti's plan to open up the sector, modernize Djibouti's economy, and increase digitalization.
"The country hopes the planned sale will help to “accelerate the pace of reforms of its public sector companies, to better cope with international and regional competition and to ensure that these companies participate fully in the national effort of emergence and development financing.” President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh
The stake sale in Djibouti Telecom has been making the rounds lately. The government announcement finally put that to bed. Although the value of the stake that is up for sale is unknown, the value making the rounds is 49%.
Djibouti's plan comes on the heel of Ethiopia's proposed sale of some stake in its state-owned telecom. Both nations are two of the last African countries to liberalize their telecoms sectors.
The Ethiopian government plans to sell a 40% stake in state-owned Ethio Telecom and welcome two new players to compete in the market. A Safaricom-led consortium has been awarded a license as the first operator, while an ongoing tendering process will decide who the second will be.
Djibouti in focus
GDP: $3.384 billion in 2020 compared to $3.325 in 2019
Population: 988,002 in 2020 compared to 973,557 in 2019
GDP per capita: $3,425 in 2020 compared to $3,414 in 2019
