This Day in History: 2021-05-23

Safaricom Consortium wins Ethiopia License Bid of $850 million. Safaricom has been awarded a telecommunications license to operate in Ethiopia — one of the world’s last major closed telecoms markets. Safaricom beat other consortia in the last stretch of a year long race for access to one of the world’s last telecoms frontiers. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the Safaricom led consortium that includes its parent firms Vodafone and Vodacom, British development finance agency CDC Group and Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation won the award after submitting a financial bid of $850 million.