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Frehiwot Tamru, the chief executive who has led Ethiopia’s national telecom operator Ethio Telecom since 2018, has been appointed Minister of Innovation and Technology.
The House of Peoples’ Representatives approved her appointment on Thursday, October 8, as lawmakers endorsed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s new cabinet for the government’s next five-year term. The appointment brings more than eight years of telecommunications and private-sector leadership experience into Ethiopia’s technology policy agenda.
During her tenure at Ethio Telecom, Frehiwot oversaw the operator’s transition from a conventional telecommunications company into a broader digital-services business. The company expanded its operations across mobile connectivity, digital financial services, e-commerce, cloud services, enterprise solutions and other emerging technologies.
Ethio Telecom recorded 215.8 billion birr in revenue during the 2025/26 financial year, representing 33.2% year-on-year growth, while its customer base reached 90.1 million. Its telebirr platform had 60.59 million customers, while the operator reported 10,613 mobile sites, 82.2% national 4G coverage and 5G services across 33 towns.
Telebirr also processed 4.19 trillion birr in transactions during the financial year, taking its cumulative transaction value since launch to 9.13 trillion birr. Under its three-year “Next Horizon: Digital & Beyond 2028” strategy, Ethio Telecom is targeting 100 million customers while expanding its digital finance, cloud, digital platform and enterprise technology services.
Frehiwot’s new role comes as Ethiopia continues to prioritise digital infrastructure, innovation and technology-enabled economic activity as part of its national development agenda. Ethio Telecom has contributed to this transformation through initiatives including support for the country’s national Digital ID programme.
Her recent engagements have also included discussions with international technology companies on AI computing infrastructure, cloud services, enterprise digital transformation, smart-industry solutions, talent development and technology transfer. In July, she led discussions between Ethio Telecom and Inspur Software Technology on these areas.
Frehiwot will now take her experience from leading one of Ethiopia’s largest technology companies into a broader national role covering technology, innovation, digital infrastructure, research and technology-driven economic development. Her appointment comes as Ethio Telecom enters the second year of its Next Horizon strategy, with the operator targeting 295 billion birr in revenue for 2026/27.
