Orange has decided to withdraw from the process of acquiring a stake of up to 45% in Ethiopian operator Ethio Telecom, the French operator told Reuters on Monday.

Orange had submitted an expression of interest in 2021 to participate in the partial privatization of Ethio Telecom, a former monopoly with more than 70 million subscribers, the Ethiopian ambassador to Paris said at the time.

"Orange confirms that it has decided to withdraw from the ongoing process concerning the sale of 45% of Ethio Telecom," the company said in a statement sent to Reuters, adding that the conditions did not allow the rapid deployment of the strategy and the realization of a value-creating project for the company.

Ethio Telecom and the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ethiopia's telecoms sector was seen as a key part of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's drive to liberalize the economy after he came to power in 2018, but the process has been slowed by civil war in the Tigray region and difficult economic conditions. (Reporting Aaron Ross; with contributions from Dawit Endeshaw in Addis Ababa; French version Diana Mandiá, edited by Blandine Hénault)