Ethiopia’s planned opening up of the country’s telecommunications sector had international companies jostling to be among the first to get a slice of a largely untapped industry in Africa’s fastest growing economy. State-run Ethio Telecom remains the sole provider for phone and internet services for a country with a population of 110 million people. The latter’s courting of foreign entities keen on ownership of the country’s telecommuncations infrastructure reportedly didn’t sit well with Ethio Telecom. Internet penetration in Ethiopia remains low at a paltry 19%, with users of telecommunications services in Ethiopia regularly complaining of slow and unreliable service. Sign up to the Quartz Africa Weekly Brief here for news and analysis on African business, tech and innovation in your inbox

Source: Ethiopian News August 19, 2020 20:26 UTC