PRESS RELEASE: February 2021
Pragma Investment Advisory (“Pragma”) is pleased to announce its partnership with Specific Tools & Techniques Ltd (“ST&T”), a Nigeria-based engineering and facility management company, with the aim of contributing to Ethiopia’s ambitions in building a world-class telecom sector.
The partnership will allow the transfer of state-of-the-art practices, innovation and technology by ST&T which for more than a decade has served large operators and infrastructure developers involved in the telecommunications, Real Estate, education, and energy sectors of West African economies by establishing operative linkages with global suppliers of choice for innovative technology backed by the highest level of services.
Following the holistic reform that Ethiopia is undergoing, new mobile operators are expected to be licensed soon and Ethiotelecom, the sole state-owned telecom company, is bound for a partial privatization. Strengthening and developing the country’s telecom infrastructure capabilities is key for enhancing telecommunications accessibility in which the private sector plays a crucial role. In light of this, Pragma is joining forces with prominent technology companies to foster an atmosphere of technological learning and digital exposure for the Ethiopian public and private sectors with a focus on telecommunications, financial technology, enterprise resource planning, ICT training, and e-commerce.
“We are excited, once again, to play a small but essential role in advancing Ethiopia’s push toward becoming a dynamic digital economy where forging this critical partnership, as both the incumbent operator and two more telcos look to compete in the country, paves the way for enhanced services, lower prices and wider options for Ethiopia’s growing mobile, data and cable internet user base“, asserts Kalid Mawi, Managing Partner at Pragma.
With this latest partnership, Pragma and ST&T will provide engineering and integrated facility management services to optimize productivity and provide sustainable service uptime.
Pragma is an advisory firm that provides transaction advisory, investment management, business development, management consulting, and economic development advisory services with a primary focus on East Africa. Its deeply analytical understanding of the sustainable value that can be created by unlocking capital for frontier and emerging markets is what makes it stand out. The firm’s founding partners and the network of senior consultants in the team bring a combined advisory experience of 30+ years in Africa, USA, Europe and Asia.