Ethiopia: Ethio Telecom Promises First Dividend to Small Shareholders
ETHIOPIA · MARKETS
Key Facts
—The promise: the operator says dividend plans will be discussed and approved at its first annual general meeting, due in the coming budget year.
—Who gets paid: Formal dividend allocations for private shareholders begin with the 2025/26 fiscal year.
—What came before: Private shareholders received none of the 12 billion birr dividend for the year to July 2025.
—The revenue behind it: the operator reported record revenue of 162 billion birr for that year, about US$1.01 billion at 161 birr to the dollar.
—The paperwork: the operator says it will publish its audited financial report to shareholders. It has not given a date.
—How money moves: Investors bought and paid for their shares through telebirr, the company’s mobile money service.
—The shareholder base: Some 47,377 investors bought shares in the offering, which did not sell out.
Ethio Telecom has told its new private shareholders they will get a dividend. It is the first since the state sold a slice of the company.
Why shareholders were left waiting
Ethiopia sold a 10% slice of its state telecoms monopoly to the public in the country’s first big public share offering. The pitch to ordinary savers was ownership of a profitable national champion.
Then came the first test. For the year to July 2025 the company paid a dividend of 12 billion birr.
That is about US$75 million at 161 birr to the dollar on 5 September 2026. All of it went to the federal government, the sole owner on the register at the time.
None reached the new private holders. Certification was still incomplete more than ten months after the offer closed, Addis Fortune reported.
The shares did not list until 26 May 2026. Ethio Telecom has not published an explanation for the delay.
Shareholders and analysts have blamed the company and the regulator. Private shareholders join the payout from the 2025/26 year, once their ownership is legally registered.
What the company has now committed to
Ethio Telecom has put a number on the pot: 111.3 billion birr over three years. Of that, 35.4 billion birr is earmarked for the current fiscal year.
That is about US$220 million at 161 birr to the dollar on 5 September 2026. The plan is part of the CEO’s Next Horizon strategy.
The company says dividend plans and other strategic decisions will be put to its first annual general meeting. That meeting is due in the coming budget year.
Ethio Telecom says it will publish its audited financial report to shareholders. It has not given a date.
What it has not set out is the mechanism by which a private shareholder’s share of that reaches them. For a former monopoly that has never had to answer to outside owners, that is the substantive change.
The listing changed the terms of ownership
Shareholders were cleared earlier this year to buy and sell their holdings on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange. Before that, an investor who wanted out had no practical way to leave.
Some 47,377 investors bought into the original offering, which did not sell out. Ethio Telecom offered 100 million shares and sold 10.7 million, Addis Insight reported.
Only 45,366 of those buyers had been verified as legal shareholders by the time trading opened. Some 1,646 were held up on know-your-customer checks and 248 non-Ethiopian applicants were rejected.
The shares were sold at 300 birr, or about US$1.86 at 161 birr to the dollar on 5 September 2026. StockMarket.et tracked them near 900 birr in early July 2026, about US$5.59.
Why this matters beyond Ethiopia
Ethiopia is building a stock market from nothing. An exchange, a regulator and a first big listed company have all arrived within a few years.
A first dividend is the moment shares turn into money in hand. It is what persuades the next group of savers that shares are more than a patriotic gesture.
The reverse is also true. A disappointing payout, or another year of deferral, would be remembered at the next offering.
The macro backdrop is not simple
Ethiopia is working through a currency reform. The birr has passed 161 to the dollar, on the National Bank of Ethiopia rate for 5 September 2026.
An International Monetary Fund programme runs alongside the reform. Local-currency earnings translate into steadily fewer dollars.
That matters less for a domestic retail base paid in birr and spending in birr. It matters a great deal for any foreign investor assessing the exchange.
Telecoms revenue has held up regardless. Revenue rose almost 75% year on year to 162 billion birr in 2024/25, Addis Fortune reported.
How the offering was priced and received
The sale did not clear at the first attempt. Some 89.3 million of the 100 million shares on offer went unsold.
The offering raised about 3.2 billion birr against a 30 billion birr target. That is roughly a tenth of what was sought.
That is a common outcome for a debut offering in a market with no listed comparables. Pricing an unlisted monopoly is guesswork for everyone involved.
Buyers had no comparable company to price against, and no trading screen to check. The subsequent trading tells its own story.
A share that struggled to sell has found a firmer level once investors could see a price move.
What could still go wrong
A dividend requires a profit and a vote at the annual general meeting. Neither is automatic.
The board could reasonably argue for retaining cash to fund network build. Disclosure quality is the other risk.
Accounts that arrive late or say little would do more damage than a small payout.
Shareholders have not received the news quietly. Dakito Alemu.
A finance professor at Addis Abeba University and himself a shareholder. Told Addis Fortune the Ethiopian capital market law requires investors to be recognised as legal owners within three months.
He said ‘our money has been tied up for months’.
What to watch next
Watch for the publication date of the audited accounts. See whether they land before the annual general meeting as promised.
Then watch the payout ratio. That single number will set expectations for every Ethiopian listing that follows.
The Ethiopian Capital Market Authority, the regulator whose three-month recognition rule was allegedly missed, did not respond to a request for comment.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will Ethio Telecom pay its first dividend to private shareholders?
The amount is to be discussed and approved at the company’s first annual general meeting, due in the coming budget year. Formal allocations for private shareholders begin with the 2025/26 fiscal year.
Why did private shareholders get nothing last year?
The 12 billion birr dividend for the year to July 2025, about US$75 million, went to the federal government. The delay was in certifying the new owners, and the operator has not published an explanation.
How will the dividends be paid?
the operator has not said yet. Shareholders paid for their shares through telebirr, the company’s mobile money service.
Can shareholders sell their the operator shares?
Yes. Shareholders were cleared this year to buy and sell on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange.
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