Safaricom Enters Capital, Announces Nation Wide Launch

Safaricom Ethiopia has extended network coverage to Addis Ababa and switched on its network nationally.

Residents in Addis Ababa will be able to purchase Safaricom Ethiopia’s SIM cards, which begin with the 07 prefixes, and choose their preferred numbers.

Customers will also be able to use data services, make calls and send SMS to Safaricom Ethiopia and Ethio Telecom customers, and make international calls worldwide.

Addis Ababa’s network rollout follows phased city-by-city large-scale testing in ten cities, including Dire Dawa, Harar, Haramaya, Bahir Dar, Adama, Bishoftu, Mojo, Debre Birhan, Awoday, and Gondar over the past month. Safaricom was able to register around 200,000 subscribers in before it entered Addis.

The telecom operator plans to cover 25 major cities by March 2023, with the next expansions planned into western Ethiopia. A grand ceremony will be held later today at Friendship Park, marking the switching of the network at the national level.

The telecom operator, which paid 850 million dollars for a 15-year license, has been gearing up for the commercial launch since receiving the license in mid- 2021.

Safaricom has onboarded a little over 25 distributors and employed around 600 employees.