Frehiwot Tamiru, the CEO of Ethio-Telecom, recently presented a performance report for the first half of the fiscal year 2016, highlighting significant achievements and advancements made by the company.
Over the last six months, Ethio Telecom has demonstrated substantial growth and expansion in its operations.
During this period, the telecom giant deployed 232 new mobile network stations across the country, enhancing its service coverage.
The company also invested in building a robust infrastructure capable of accommodating an additional 1.9 million mobile network customers, contributing to a remarkable total customer base of 81 million.
A notable aspect of Ethio Telecom’s strategy has been the development of 41 new mobile network infrastructures in rural areas within the past six months.
This initiative aims to bridge the digital divide and provide telecommunications services to previously underserved regions of the country.
Ethio Telecom holds the distinction of being the second-largest telecom company in Africa in terms of the number of customers and faces strong competition from Safaricom, a telecom company that entered the Ethiopian market three years ago.
In terms of financial performance, Ethio Telecom reported a total revenue of 43 billion birr over the last six months.
Notably, the company achieved a net profit of 11 billion birr, demonstrating its financial strength and stability. Additionally, Ethio Telecom fulfilled its corporate responsibility by contributing 18 billion birr in taxes to the government.
Comparing this year’s results with the previous fiscal year, the company has shown a remarkable 14 percent increase in revenue. Last year’s net profit of 8 billion birr has been surpassed, reflecting Ethio Telecom’s continued growth and market dominance.
As a government-owned entity, Ethio Telecom has set ambitious targets for the fiscal year 2016, aiming to earn 90.5 billion birr from general telecom services.
The CEO emphasized the company’s potential to further expand its customer base, projecting an increase to 92 million customers by acquiring an additional 13 million customers within the fiscal year.
Despite its success, Ethiopia is exploring opportunities to introduce a third telecom service provider to the market, alongside the state-owned Ethio Telecom and Safaricom.
There have also been discussions about selling less than half of Ethio Telecom’s shares. Notably, the French telecom company Orange expressed interest in acquiring Ethio Telecom’s shares, but it recently withdrew its intention due to security concerns in Ethiopia.
Orange Group stated, “We believe that there are no conditions to quickly implement our strategy and complete the project in a manner that creates value for our company.”
