President Ruto is also expected to hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali in Addis Ababa.

“President Williams Ruto has left for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali. The two leaders will thereafter preside over the launch of Safaricom in Ethiopia,” read an announcement by State House.

The leading telco has been setting up structures and recruiting staff ahead of its launch on Thursday, October 6 by Safaricom PLC CEO Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom Ethiopia CEO Anwar Soussa, and Safaricom Ethiopia chairman Michael Joseph.

The company plans on building a team of over 1,000 employees by June 2023.

Additionally, the company is also eyeing to recruit 450 graduates over the next three years into a global development programme dubbed the Discover Graduate Management Programme.

With 55.7% of the company's shares, Safaricom Kenya is the largest stakeholder in the new company.

Other shareholders include South African Vodacom (6.2%), Sumitomo of Japan (27.2%), British International Investment (BII) of the UK (10.9%), and Sumitomo of Japan (27.2%).

Safaricom Ethiopia will be the sole competition of Ethio Telecom.