Ethiopia: Lootah Industries Plc’s SIM card manufacturing plant has started operations, with Ethio Telecom as first customer
November 3rd 2021
The liberalization of the Ethiopian telecoms market, initiated in 2019, has not only had an impact on mobile telephone operators. Opportunities have also arisen in related sectors such as equipment. Lootah Industries Plc is camped there with great ambitions.
The SIM card manufacturing plant of local company Lootah Industries PLC, located in the Haile Garment area of Addis Ababa, started operations as planned in November. The incumbent operator Ethio Telecom will now get its supplies directly there, in accordance with the three-year agreement signed between the two partners last September. $ 4 million was invested by Lootah Industries PLC for the construction of this plant which lasted two years.
Ibrahim Saeed Ahmed Lootah, chairman of the Lootah group of companies, called this technological infrastructure ” the first smart card manufacturing plant in Ethiopia and East Africa “. He was delighted that this investment was completed ” in record time despite the challenges encountered as a result of Covid-19 “. Through this factory, he expressed the commitment of Lootah Industries PLC “ to serve the Ethiopian people and provide them with the best possible technology ”.
Lootah Industries PLC’s investment in Ethiopia follows growing business opportunities in the mobile phone segment with the ongoing opening of the telecoms market to competition. In total, three telecom companies will soon be fighting in the Ethiopian market. Beyond telephony, the banking sector is also a potential market for products manufactured by the plant, in particular chips for payment cards.
Prateek Dayal, the executive director of Lootah Industries PLC, revealed that the plant was designed to increase its current production capacity to 120 million smart cards as more operators start operations in the country. . The company also plans to invest in a production line to manufacture telecom recharge cards.
For Ethio Telecom, which is expecting a first delivery of SIM cards this month, local procurement will allow it to save money. Before, the public company had to import its SIM cards from foreign suppliers and pay in dollars, both for the goods and for logistics and transport.
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