Digital Ethiopia Drives Telecom Growth, Strengthened Cybersecurity, and AI Expansion: Officials

Addis Ababa, December 20, 2025 (ENA)—Ethiopia’s digital transformation is gaining momentum, driven by telecom expansion, strengthened cybersecurity, and a growing push for artificial intelligence, according to heads of key institutions.

Ethiopia has launched Digital Ethiopia 2030 today in the presence of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Prime Minister Abiy stated that the precursor “Digital Ethiopia 2025 has been completed after achieving its intended goals to an almost full extent.”

Expanding accessibility, creating equal opportunities for citizens, and strengthening trust between citizens and institutions are among the key foundational pillars of the strategy, the premier said.

“Digital Ethiopia 2025 has recorded numerous achievements in the telecommunications sector. For example, the number of mobile subscribers has reached 97 million, of which 57 million are internet users, Frehiwot Tamru, Chief Executive Officer, Ethio Telecom indicated during the occasion.

 In addition, 1,030 towns now have access to 4G network coverage, according to the CEO.

 Under the Digital Ethiopia 2030 Strategy, the number of mobile subscribers is expected to reach 128 million, and 5G network coverage will reach 100 percent.

 She added that by 2030, special emphasis will also be placed on expanding digital payments, aiming for growth of more than sevenfold compared to their current contribution to the national GDP.

 On her part Tigest Hamid Director General, Information and Network Security Administration, revealed that within the Digital 2025 Strategy, several enabling foundations have been laid in the area of cybersecurity.

 “By building our own cloud infrastructure, trust in Ethiopia’s digital services has been strengthened. In addition, a digital forensics laboratory has been established for security institutions and made operational.”

 Cybersecurity has been given strategic priority under Digital Ethiopia 2030, Tigest pointed out.

 She further elaborated that efforts will focus on building resilient critical digital infrastructure, upgrading public infrastructure, establishing an incident response center, and strengthening cybersecurity work that includes private-sector institutions.

Under Digital Ethiopia 2030, numerous initiatives will be implemented to expand the artificial intelligence ecosystem, Worku Gachena, Director General, Ethiopian Artificial Intelligence Institute said.

“Beyond using our own cloud infrastructure, efforts will be made to establish an effective data governance system. Accordingly, structured data will be used for decision-making, and an independent national data authority will be made operational.”

 Attention is also being given to integrating and standardizing digital service delivery, according to Worku.

Yodahie Arayaselassie, National ID Program Coordinator said for his part,tThe Fayda Digital ID has been implemented as a key component of the Digital 2025 Strategy.

Currently, 30 million citizens have been registered for the Fayda ID.

“Under Digital Ethiopia 2030, Fayda has also been given strategic importance, with efforts underway to make it fully accessible. In particular, services at the lowest administrative levels will be integrated with Fayda to achieve the goals set out in the strategy.”

 This will require collaborative effort from all stakeholders, he pointed out.