The Safaricom-led consortium in Ethiopia will pay $150 million (KSh18.9 billion) as license fees to roll out M-Pesa in Ethiopia if the proposed regulations by the country are passed.
The amount referred to as an investment protection fee is contained in the proposed rules that will guide the licensing and launching of mobile money operations such as M-Pesa in Ethiopia.
“A foreign national applicant shall present evidence for the payment of $150 million or equivalent in another foreign currency for investment protection fee,” reads the draft published by the National Bank of Ethiopia, the country’s banking sector regulator.
An investment protection fee is the amount paid by foreigners to invest in businesses exclusively reserved for domestic investors or the government.
The amount will be in addition to 50 million birrs (KSh117.81 million) that Safaricom will have to pay in cash as paid-up capital and the amount deposited in a bank account with restricted access.
The Ethiopian National Bank is on Tuesday expected to hold a consultative meeting with officials from Safaricom Ethiopia, Ethiopia Telecommunication Authority and those from banks, microfinance banks and payment system operators to discuss the draft.
Mobile money in Ethiopia is set to lift the profile of M-Pesa, which has been raising its stake in Safaricom’s revenue mix since its launch in 2007.
M-Pesa accounted for KSh107.69 billion ($853 million), 39.9 percent, of the telco’s KSh269.86 billion ($2.1 billion) total mobile service revenue for the year ended March 2022.
