(Bloomberg) — Ethiopia raised 3.2 billion birr ($24 million) after selling 10% of the shares on offer in its maiden initial public offering that was open for more than four months. 

The nation sold 10.7 million shares in state-run Ethio Telecom for 300 birr each, the company said in a statement Friday. Ethiopia Investment Holdings, which controls 40 state-run companies including the telecom firm, planned to sell 100 million shares in a bid to raise 30 billion birr from the sale. 

The offer failed to raise the targeted amount because the Ethiopian diaspora and institutional investors weren’t allowed to bid in the IPO, according to Ethio Telecom Chief Executive Officer Frehiwot Tamru.

Still, the sale paves the way for the operationalization of the Ethiopian Securities Exchange, a key step that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has taken to open up the economy. The nation last year ended half a century of control of its currency and is easing rules of doing business to lure investment

“Regarding shares that are not subscribed, we will notify when we will be doing a second round IPO,”Tamru said. 

Ethio Telecom had about 81 million users by January and reported revenue of 61.9 billion birr in the six months through Jan. 7.

The nation had a stock market for 14 years until 1974, when the military overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie and banned share trading.

The new bourse is targeting to list as many as 50 companies over five years, some through the so-called listing by introduction — which does not involve an IPO.

–With assistance from Monique Vanek.

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