Nairobi, Feb. 7 -- Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia Plc raised its local borrowings to an equivalent of Ksh18.8 billion ($117.5 million) at the end of December 2023 as part of the diversification of its funding structure.

Disclosures by the company's majority shareholder, Safaricom Plc, show that borrowings from the Ethiopian market rose from Ksh15.2 billion ($95 million) in June 2023. The telco says the operating unit's local market borrowings are set at varying interest rates.

The operator first reported the Birr-denominated loans whose tenors averaged five years in the year ended March 2023 when the borrowings stood at Ksh12.8 billion ($80 million).

The domestic loans by STE have served to diversify funding for the Ethiopian op...