By: Tewodros Balcha
Ethiopia's latest GDP rebasing has
brought digital financial services and other technology-enabled activities into
the country's national statistics, coinciding with the expansion of Ethio
Telecom's digital services and the government's Digital Ethiopia 2030 strategy.
The government announced earlier in
November that GDP for the 2024/25 base year rose to 24.03 trillion birr ($201.4
billion), from 15.09 trillion birr under the previous series. The preliminary
figure for 2025/26 stands at 31.86 trillion birr ($210.7 billion).
The revised accounts, developed with
technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund, move the base year
from 2015/16 to 2024/25 and cover a broader range of activities. These include
digital financial services, ride-sharing platforms, large-scale solar
installations, informal manufacturing, artisanal mining and regional
state-owned enterprises.
The growth of Ethiopia's digital
financial ecosystem is reflected in the performance of Ethio Telecom, whose
mobile-money platform Telebirr has become a major part of the country's digital
payments landscape.
Ethio Telecom reported revenue of
215.82 billion birr for the 2025/26 financial year, up 33.2%. Its customer base
reached 90.12 million. Data and internet services accounted for 31.1% of
revenue, overtaking mobile voice to become its largest revenue stream.
Telebirr recorded 60.6 million
registered customers and processed 2.61 billion transactions worth 4.19
trillion birr during the year. Cumulative transaction value since its 2021
launch reached 9.13 trillion birr, according to the company's published performance
report.
The platform also reported 440,100
merchants and 19.51 billion birr in digital loans disbursed to 5.65 million
customers, extending its role across digital payments, commerce and financial
services.
The expansion is supported by
continued network investment. Ethio Telecom reported 76 billion birr in network
investment, 4G population coverage of 82.2% and 5G availability in 33 cities.
Smartphone penetration stood at 45.2%, indicating further scope for expanding
digital access.
The
developments align with the government's Digital Ethiopia 2030 strategy, which
targets a digital sector contributing 12% of GDP and generating one million
jobs by the end of the decade.
