Frehiwot Tamru, CEO of Ethio telecom, has warned that Africa could face a 30-year delay in digital progress without a comprehensive policy overhaul. Speaking at the GSMA Ministerial Roundtable in Barcelona, she criticized fragmented approaches to connectivity issues. She called for an integrated strategy to address the continent's digital divide.
Frehiwot Tamru, the CEO of Ethio telecom, addressed the GSMA Ministerial Roundtable on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. She delivered a warning about Africa's technological future, stating that without shifting from ad-hoc policymaking to a holistic model, the continent risks a prolonged digital exclusion lasting decades.
Tamru highlighted the limitations of the GSMA’s new Digital Africa Index, noting that many African countries' reluctance to provide data creates an incomplete view, which affects investors and policymakers. She argued against the sequential approach to solving the digital divide—first coverage, then affordability, and relevance—describing it as outdated. "We cannot afford to treat the digital divide as a linear problem to be solved step by step over decades," she said. "If we continue to tackle infrastructure separately from device economics, or content separately from regulation, we will still be discussing this same gap in 2056."
Instead, she advocated for a synchronized effort involving network densification, handset subsidization, local innovation ecosystems, and adaptive legislation. Addressing regulators, Tamru urged redefining telecom operators' roles beyond commercial services. "We are the architects of the digital backbone upon which future economies will be built," she stated, pushing for co-creative regulation to encourage investment and growth.
The event revealed a key market issue: while 4G coverage reaches about 84% of Africa's population, high costs of entry-level devices keep many offline. Ethiopia is participating in a GSMA pilot for 4G smartphones priced under $40 to close this usage gap. Industry data from the roundtable suggests that connecting under-connected users could add $700 billion to Africa's GDP by the decade's end. Ethio telecom's "Next Horizon" plan aims to support this transformation, positioning the company as a key player in the region's digital development.
