Ethio Telecom Posts Strong First-Half Performance as Data and Mobile Money Fuel Revenue Surge

Ethio Telecom reported a sharp rise in revenue in the first half of the current fiscal year, posting 85.02 billion birr, driven largely by rapid growth in data usage and mobile money transactions. The strong performance came despite persistent foreign currency shortages and mounting regulatory pressures facing the state-owned operator.

The revenue figure marks an 81 percent increase from the 62.06 billion birr recorded during the same period last year, the company disclosed during a media briefing held.

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Ethiopia’s Operators Raise Tariffs Due to Macroeconomic Conditions

Both of Ethiopia’s operators – Ethio Telecom and Safaricom – have announced tariff rises, citing current macroeconomic conditions as the main reason, alongside increased investment requirements for network expansion and service quality.

Ethio Telecom has implemented what has been described as a moderate adjustment to its tariffs, but its statement focuses heavily on the positives, saying: “The adjustment is essential to ensure continuity and quality of services, and to sustainably strengthen the ongoing expansion of telecommunications and digital infrastructure across the country.”

Safaricom Ethiopia has announced a 44% average rise in mobile data charges. The ITWeb Africa news service calls this the company's most aggressive pricing adjustment since entering the Ethiopian market two years ago.

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Ethiopia: Safaricom Integrates M-Pesa into National Payment Network

M-Pesa was commercially launched in Ethiopia in August 2023, about a year after mobile services. The platform primarily competes with Telebirr, the service of the incumbent operator Ethio Telecom.

Mobile phone company Safaricom Ethiopia has integrated its M-Pesa mobile money platform with the national payment network EthSwitch. The initiative, announced on Monday, October 27, now enables full interoperability between M-Pesa and some fifteen banks and mobile wallets, with further integrations planned in the coming weeks.

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Ethio Telecom Unveils Znexus to Bridge Digital Divide

Ethio telecom has unveiled Znexus, a new line of affordable and cloud-powered smart devices aimed at connecting millions of Ethiopians priced out of the smartphone market. The initiative directly targets the country’s usage gap, a major barrier, that prevents millions of citizens from joining the economy despite widespread network coverage. The Znexus service, which forms part of Ethiopia’s ambitious Horizon Strategy to achieve a digitally empowered society by 2027/2028, will provide millions with access to affordable smart feature phones, tablets, laptops, and thin client PCs.

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Ethio Telecom and TINNO Explore Collaboration to Drive Digital Inclusion Across Ethiopia and Africa

Ethio Telecom and TINNO, a global technology company and leading Original Design Manufacturer (ODM), have held a high-level strategic meeting to explore a transformative partnership aimed at expanding access to affordable smart devices and accelerating digital inclusion in Ethiopia and across Africa.

The meeting brought together Ethio Telecom’s Chief Executive Officer, Frehiwot Tamru, and Mr. Andy Meng, Vice President of Global Business at TINNO, along with senior leadership teams from both organizations.

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Ruto Takes Over COMESA Chair, Calls for Digital Revolution

Kenya’s President William Ruto has taken over as COMESA chair with a rallying call for a continental revolution and a pledge to drive Africa’s transition from a technology consumer to a global innovation powerhouse.

Speaking at the 24th COMESA Heads of State and Government Summit in Nairobi yesterday, Ruto, who leads Kenya, Africa’s Silicon Valley, vowed that his tenure will focus on accelerating regional digitalisation to unlock Africa’s economic potential.

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Ethiopian Tech Whiz to Lead MasterCard Foundation

MasterCard Foundation, one of the world’s largest philanthropies managing over $53 billion in assets, has appointed Sewit Ahderom, a seasoned Ethiopian tech leader, as its next president and CEO, effective January 1, 2026. Sewit’s elevation to the pinnacle of a pivotal Foundation driving inclusion in almost 40 countries across the continent, signals a decisive shift toward innovation and youth-focused solutions for Africa’s fast-growing economy. Read more here

Top 10 African Countries by Number of Mobile Phone Subscriptions

According to a report from Ecofin Agency, Nigeria leads African countries with 164.9 million mobile subscriptions. Ethiopia, with a total of 85.4 million mobile subscriptions, ranks fifth based on figures available for December 2024. Read more here to find out which ten African countries have the highest number of mobile phone subscriptions.

Ethiopia Rolls Out its National e-Services Portal Nationwide

Ethiopian authorities have announced the nationwide rollout of MESOB (Modern Ethiopian Service for Organized Benefits), the public administration's multi-service digital platform. MESOB integrates multiple channels, such as web portals, mobile applications, and physical counters, with the aim of simplifying access to public services. The platform is part of a broader reform structured around seven pillars, including the modernization of human resources, inclusive governance, results-based performance, and public ethics. To read more click here

Safaricom Ethiopia Expands 4G Nationwide

Safaricom Ethiopia has taken a step forward in combining connectivity and compassion with the official relaunch of its network in Arbaminch City as part of its 4G expansion across the country. The 4G expansion not only enhances digital infrastructure in the Gamo Zone but also highlights the telco’s growing social footprint through a strategic partnership with Mary Joy Ethiopia, a well-established NGO that supports vulnerable women and children. For more information click this link.

How Mobile Money Continues to Remain Impactful

The GSMA recently released its State of the Industry Mobile Money Report, looking at how the sector has grown in the past year. Mobile money has of course been one of the major success stories for the industry in emerging markets, and we’ve certainly found in the past that reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated. For more information read the full article.

Ethiopia: Two Years After the Liberalization of Telecoms, Prices have Fallen by 70%

Mobile service costs in Ethiopia are now in line with the recommendations of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), falling below 2% of monthly gross national income (GNI) per capita. In 2017, they still represented nearly 12% of GNI. This transformation is the result of the liberalization of the telecoms market, initiated in October 2022 with the launch of Safaricom’s commercial activities. According to the Global Mobile Phone Association (GSMA), the price of telecoms services has decreased by 70% in the country. Today, Ethiopia offers some of the most affordable telecoms rates in the East African sub-region.

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Wi-Fi Goes Long Range on New WiLo Approach

Wi-Fi Goes Long Range on New WiLo Approach

The new technique could underpin agricultural sensor networks and smart cities. Researchers have developed a hybrid technology that would combine Wi-Fi with the Long Range (LoRa) networking protocol, yielding a new long-distance wireless concept called WiLo. The research team has designed their proposed WiLo tech to be used on existing Wi-Fi and LoRa hardware. Researchers have developed a hybrid technology that would combine Wi-Fi with the Long Range (LoRa) networking protocol, yielding a new long-distance wireless concept called WiLo. The research team has designed their proposed WiLo tech to be used on existing Wi-Fi and LoRa hardware.

The advance may find applications in Internet of Things (IoT) technologies–such as networks of long-range sensors used in agriculture or smart cities.

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Feature: Is it time to make the leap to 5G-Advanced?

A panel of telecoms experts examined the state of 5G-Advanced (5G-A) and why it is important during Mobile World Live’s latest topic panel, with the executives highlighting new capabilities enabling operators to capitalise on fresh use cases to drive revenue.

The panellists backed 5G-A upgrades to fuel new levels of network automation to reduce costs and improve reliability, and help drive the evolution to 6G in the coming years. For more click here

Apple unveils new iPad Pro with ‘outrageously powerful’ AI-powered chip

Apple is hoping its latest iPad lineup will breathe new life into its sluggish tablet market. In a pre-recorded live streamed event from its Cupertino, California headquarters, the company introduced the latest versions of its iPad Pro and iPad Air tablets, and an all-new Apple Pencil Pro. Read more ....

Telefonica nears full ownership of German unit

Telefonica increased its stake in its German subsidiary to 93.1 per cent during a public tender offer to shareholders, spending around €1.5 billion in cash.

The operator stated it raised its stake from approximately 71.8 per cent held when it announced the public acquisition in November 2023, acquiring 630 million shares equating to more than 21 per cent. The offer is expected to be settled on 26 January 2024.

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Apple Vision Pro set for US launch in February

Apple announced its $3,499 Vision Pro headset would start shipping across the US on 2 February, marking its much-anticipated entry into the AR/VR market, with advance orders to start on 19 January.

The headset comes with 256GB of storage and delivers more pixels than a 4K TV for each eye. It allows users to switch between AR and VR using a dial located on the side. post only in the specified topic.

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Parallel Wireless pushes Africa open RAN progress

RAN vendor Parallel Wireless lauded a milestone of installing equipment in 1,500 sites across various African markets through partnerships with authorities and operators in a number of countries. In a statement, the vendor highlighted deployments in Tanzania, Republic of Guinea, Ghana, South Sudan, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi and Nigeria. Read more here.

Raxio in Ethiopia

Raxio Ethiopia has commenced operations in 2023. It is is a carrier-neutral Tier III data centre facility located along the outskirts of Addis Ababa, meeting fast-growing demands for colocation in Ethiopia, home to some of East Africa’s largest software companies and a dynamic SME ecosystem.

Located in the heart of Ethiopia’s economic region Raxio’s newest Tier III certified, data centre will address the growing needs of a growing business and public sector for dependable, always-on IT solutions.

“The launch of our flagship facility in Addis Ababa represents a major milestone in our journey at Raxio, and for our country,” said Bewket Taffere, general manager of Raxio Data Centre in Ethiopia.

“We anticipate that this facility will be a catalyst for increased economic development in Ethiopia, supporting local businesses and government agencies, as well as attracting regional and international service and content providers into Ethiopia.”

For more information visit the Raxio Ethiopia page.

Orange Withdraws from Ethio Telecom Sale Process

Orange Group opted to withdraw from a process to acquire a 45 per cent stake in Ethiopia’s state-owned operator Ethio Telecom, blaming existing market conditions which it claims do not match its strategy.

In a statement to Mobile World Live, the France-based operator group explained it would not move forward with a plan to attempt to acquire a 45 per cent stake in the Ethiopian business, ending interest which first began in 2021.

“After analysis, the group believes the conditions do not allow for the rapid deployment of our strategy and the completion of a project that would create value for the company,” it stated.

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