- Ethiopia’s state-owned telco, Ethio Telecom, has announced strategic talks with Shandong Hi-Speed Group, a Chinese enterprise, about building a hyper-scale data centre.
- The telco said its CEO, Frehiwot Tamru, has engaged in discussions with Shandong Hi-Speed Group General Manager (GM), Cal Kun, regarding the construction.
- According to the telco, Shandong has expressed its willingness to collaborate in both the construction and financing of the data centre. The partnership is also aimed at advancing Ethiopia’s digital infrastructure.
The move for a hype scale data centre comes as Ethio Telecom concluded its 2023/24 fiscal year (1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024) with an 8.9% increase in its subscriber base, reaching 78.3 million customers, and a 21.7% increase in total revenue, reaching Birr 93.7 billion ($1.62 billion).
Its mobile money service, Telebirr, reached 47.5 million subscribers, accounting for 45.7% of all mobile money users in Ethiopia. Telebirr handled Birr 1.81 trillion ($31 billion) in transactions during the period.
According to Ethio Telecom, the hyperscale data centre initiative will play a crucial role in realising Ethiopia’s digital transformation and building the digital economy by providing a reliable, scalable, and future-proof digital infrastructure.
"Ethio Telecom continues to actively seek strategic partnerships to support its Lead Growth Strategy and advance the vision of realising Digital Ethiopia. These partnerships are critical to driving innovation and building the ecosystem," the telco said.
This is not the telco’s first data centre. In a 2022 report, when it signed a lease agreement with Amhara Bank for its data centre, the telco noted, "So far, our company has built two modular data centres, and three more are under construction, which will soon bring the total to five data centres."
Additionally, Ethio Telecom is aiming for a significant revenue boost this financial year — targeting a 75% increase, with a goal of Birr 163.7 billion ($1.44 billion) in sales by July 2024, and looking to grow its customer base by 6%.
These plans, disclosed by CEO Frehiwot Tamru, include expanding enterprise solutions and adding more services to their mobile money platform, Telebirr, to enhance accessibility.
