Ethiopia’s telecom regulator now answers to a minister who also chairs the incumbent’s board.
On October 7, parliament unanimously passed Proclamation No. 1440/2019, moving the Ethiopian Communications Authority from the Prime Minister’s direct oversight to the Ministry of Innovation and Technology. The next day, lawmakers approved Frehiwot Tamiru, Ethio telecom’s former chief executive and now chair of its board, as the ministry’s head.
Nothing suggests impropriety. The question is structural. The law itself says an authority should report elsewhere when a conflict of interest with its ministry is foreseen. It also lets a ministry review an agency’s budget, programs and structure.
The stakes are practical. The regulator’s calls on termination rates, infrastructure-sharing prices and app access could shape whether Ethiopia ever attracts a third operator.
Read the full analysis.
https://shorturl.at/RlUGR
On October 7, parliament unanimously passed Proclamation No. 1440/2019, moving the Ethiopian Communications Authority from the Prime Minister’s direct oversight to the Ministry of Innovation and Technology. The next day, lawmakers approved Frehiwot Tamiru, Ethio telecom’s former chief executive and now chair of its board, as the ministry’s head.
Nothing suggests impropriety. The question is structural. The law itself says an authority should report elsewhere when a conflict of interest with its ministry is foreseen. It also lets a ministry review an agency’s budget, programs and structure.
The stakes are practical. The regulator’s calls on termination rates, infrastructure-sharing prices and app access could shape whether Ethiopia ever attracts a third operator.
Read the full analysis.
https://shorturl.at/RlUGR