The Ethiopian government has announced plans to privatize Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) among other parastatals as it seeks to shore up depleted foreign currency reserves.
A statement issued on June 5, 2018, by the Executive Committee of the ruling EPRDF party said the government would dispose of equity in the carrier, along with Ethio Telecom, Ethiopian Electric Power, and the Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics Services Enterprise, to domestic and foreign investors.
It did not specify the extent to which Ethiopian would be privatized stating only that government would retain a majority stake. Further details will be announced later in the year.
Ethiopian Airlines is Africa's largest and profitable large scale airline by passenger numbers, fleet size and revenue. It recently reached a fleet of 100 aircraft.
