Ethio Telecom doubles its turnover and achieves record growth of 72.9%
August 5th 2025
At a media event held at the Ethiopian Science Museum, Ethio Telecom CEO Frehiwot Tamiru presented the financial results for the 2024/2025 fiscal year, announcing a 72.9% increase in revenue and the successful completion of its three-year “LEAD” growth strategy.
For the fiscal year from July 2024 to June 2025, Ethio Telecom generated 162 billion Ethiopian birr (approximately USD 2.8 billion), with foreign exchange earnings reaching USD 213.6 million. The number of subscribers reached 83.2 million, an increase of 6.2% compared to the previous year, bringing the national telecom penetration rate to 73.7%.
Network expansion and coverage improvement
Frehiwot Tamiru detailed the deployment of 1,683 new mobile sites, nearly half of which are in rural areas. This expansion has increased 4G coverage from 37.5% to 70.8%, while overall mobile network coverage now reaches 99.4% of the population and 86.5% of the territory. Network capacity has been increased to accommodate 104.8 million subscribers. In addition, 5G services have been extended to 26 cities, and Massive MIMO technology has been deployed to 306 sites.
The fiber optic network was reinforced by an additional 686 km, bringing the total to 22,673 km, and the optical distribution network (ODN) capacity reached 951,982 connections. Fiber was installed at urban mobile sites, and 216 km of metropolitan ring protection was added to improve network reliability.
Growth of financial and digital services
Digital financial services experienced strong growth: telebirr registered 7.3 million new users during the year, bringing the total to 54.84 million. The platform facilitated transactions worth 2.38 trillion birr, including 13.2 billion in microloans and 11.2 billion in digital savings. It also generated USD 14.4 million from international money transfer services.
Ethio Telecom has also expanded its cloud and data services offering. Its data center now operates with a 5 MW computing load, has 624 racks, and a cloud infrastructure offering more than 31,000 virtual processors, serving more than 650 institutions.
Digital inclusion and sustainable initiatives
In rural areas, 2,388 previously unserved villages were connected to the mobile network, reaching 5.9 million inhabitants. To improve service reliability, 141 solar power systems were installed and 66 new generators were commissioned.
During the fiscal year, 10.4 million citizens were enrolled in the National Digital ID Program through Ethio Telecom centers, generating 2.94 billion birr in revenue.
The company also dedicated 450 million birr to social responsibility activities (education, health, humanitarian aid and environmental sustainability).
Results of the LEAD strategy and international recognition
Frehiwot Tamiru highlighted that the three-year LEAD growth strategy has resulted in a doubling of revenue, the acquisition of 16.6 million new customers, the achievement of 22.4 billion birr in savings, as well as a significant improvement in accessibility to smartphones and services. During this period, Ethio Telecom launched 838 new products, expanded its data and fiber networks, and increased the total value of its assets from 215 billion birr to 329 billion birr.
The company’s performance has been recognized with several accolades, including awards from Juniper Research, AVAYA, and the GSMA Board, as well as leadership recognition for Frehiwot Tamiru, including from Forbes Africa.
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