Safaricom Ethiopia has expanded the roll-out of its network to the eastern Harari region three days after launching a large-scale customer pilot in Dire Dawa.

Ethiopia’s first private telecom company targets to widen its coverage to 25 cities across the Horn of Africa country by April 2023.

Read: Safaricom goes live in Ethiopia second largest city

“Harari holds great historic relevance in Ethiopia, and we are excited to roll out our customer pilot for Safaricom Ethiopia’s network and services in this region,” said Anwar Soussa, the chief executive officer.

Harari is the smallest regional state in Ethiopia and has the country's only walled city, the region's capital Harar.

Residents in the regional state can now purchase SIM cards and choose their preferred numbers on 07 prefixes.

“The Safaricom Ethiopia SIM cards will come with the welcome offer of data, voice and SMS for customers to test and experience the network for one month,” the telco said.

Customers can also buy airtime vouchers from shops or branded souks.

The telco has also set up customer care centres in Arategna and Sellassie in the region.

The Global Partnership for Ethiopia—which comprises Kenya's Safaricom Plc, Vodacom Group, Vodafone Group, Sumitomo Corporation, and British International Investment (formerly known as CDC Group)—was awarded a license to operate telecom services in Ethiopia in July 2021.