“Safaricom pays taxes using Telebirr”: External Affairs Chief
The executives of Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia Plc have called for government support in ensuring equal access to open platforms, criticizing incongruent tariffs on phone services provided by competitor Ethio telecom.
During a visit to Safaricom headquarters this week, members of the parliamentary committee for Democracy Affairs heard CEO Wim Vanhelleputte, CEO of Safaricom Ethiopia, advocate for equal access to telecommunications networks, urging that all customers should be able to utilize both Safaricom and Ethio telecom networks without exclusion.
Safaricom’s recently appointed Chief External Affairs Officer, Andualem Admassie (PhD), noted issues with off-net and on-net parity with Ethio telecom.
The state-owned operator’s customers are charged extra when making phone calls to a number in the Safaricom network, while Safaricom has a fixed charge regardless of network.
Andualem and Vanhelleputte want to see this change.
“We want the country to benefit and to grow digital connectivity and financial inclusion; those are priorities for the country as a whole. We are asking if there is an opportunity to get both networks [to give] equal access to the customer so that they can use both networks and not get excluded from calling our network,” said the CEO.
On the other hand, Safaricom Ethiopia’s mobile money platform M-Pesa and Ethio Telecom’s Telebirr currently do not support inter-platform money transfers.
Safaricom execs see this limitation hindering the potential for seamless financial transactions, highlighting the need for collaboration between the two networks to enhance digital financial inclusion in the country.
This absence of interoperability raises concerns about accessibility and convenience in an evolving digital economy, according to Vanhelleputte, who says segments of the market are under a monopoly.
“Monopoly is a contradiction to liberalization. We have 32 banks; we have multiple fintech financial institutions; all of them should be able to offer digital payments. So, we ask policymakers if we really want to accelerate digital Ethiopia, we should try to gate all the financial institutions to give them equal access to offer digital payments,” he said.
Ethiopia’s drivers will soon be able to use M-Pesa, as well as other banking and mobile money platforms, to make fuel payments as part of an initiative from the Ministry of Transport.
“After certain negotiations, we got the green light that after a few months, M-Pesa can be another platform for fuel payment. Still, it is not allowed to pay taxes via M-Pesa. Safaricom Ethiopia itself pays taxes using Telebirr. The company needs the government to look into such issues,” Andualem told the visiting MPs.
Ewnetu Aleneh, chair of the parliamentary committee, agreed to engage in discussions with the Ethiopian Communications Authority to address the concerns raised by the private telecom operator.
Ewnetu pledged to address concerns raised by Safaricom regarding its M-Pesa service, promising to relay these issues to the relevant finance standing committee and initiate discussions with the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE).
Safaricom Ethiopia has garnered 6.1 million 90-day active registered customers since it began operations in 2021. The firm’s network, consisting of more than 3,000 sites, can cover 46 percent of the population.
