Ethio Telecom has planted another 250,000 tree seedlings as the company pushes its environmental work beyond annual planting campaigns and deeper into the infrastructure powering Ethiopia’s digital economy.
The state-owned telecommunications operator launched the eighth edition of its nationwide Green Legacy campaign on August 3. Planting activities took place in Addis Ababa and across its 18 regional offices, bringing together more than 3,500 employees, partners and stakeholders.
The trees are the visible part of the programme. Behind them sits a much larger shift involving solar-powered telecom sites, battery storage, electric vehicle charging stations and upgrades designed to reduce the company’s reliance on diesel.
Tree Planting Remains a Major Part of the Plan
The latest 250,000 seedlings were planted under Ethiopia’s national “Planting Hope” initiative and Ethio Telecom’s own “For a Green Ethiopia” campaign.
This is not the company’s first large planting drive. Ethio Telecom says it has planted more than 4.6 million seedlings across 889 locations during the past seven years.
The operator reports an average survival rate of 82.7%. That figure matters. Planting totals grab attention, but survival rates give a better picture of whether the work continues after the event photographs are taken.
Ethio Telecom has allocated more than 42.4 million Ethiopian birr to this year’s environmental programme. Its cumulative spending on conservation and green development has now passed 159.9 million birr.
The programme has also created more than 24,800 temporary jobs, mainly in seedling production, planting and maintenance. Around 2,000 additional temporary roles are expected from the latest campaign.
Solar Power Is Replacing Diesel Across the Network
Telecommunications infrastructure needs a steady supply of electricity, including in remote communities where the national grid may be unreliable or unavailable.
Diesel generators have traditionally filled that gap. They also bring fuel costs, maintenance problems and emissions.
Ethio Telecom is trying to reduce that dependence through its Green Operator Strategy. The company has commissioned 190 telecom sites powered entirely by solar energy, alongside 867 hybrid solar-and-battery systems and 1,114 lithium-ion battery storage units.
According to the company, those installations have cut diesel generator operating time by as much as 40%.
The operator added another 215 solar-powered sites during its latest financial year and modernised 774 existing network stations. Those projects increased renewable generation capacity by 12.72 megawatts, taking Ethio Telecom’s installed solar capacity to 39.72 megawatts.
That is where the environmental strategy starts becoming an operational one.
Solar and battery systems can lower fuel spending, reduce the need to transport diesel into rural areas and keep network equipment running during grid interruptions. For a telecom provider, cleaner energy is useful. More reliable energy may be even more valuable.
Green Infrastructure Becomes Part of Digital Expansion
Ethio Telecom’s sustainability projects sit within its three-year “Next Horizon: Digital & Beyond 2028 Strategy”.
The plan combines network expansion with renewable energy, lower-carbon technology and broader environmental, social and governance commitments. Ethio Telecom has also set a target of moving between 500 and 1,000 network sites each year to solar or grid-based power solutions.
This creates a slightly different picture of green telecommunications.
It is not simply about buying renewable energy certificates or running an annual corporate campaign. The company is changing how individual network sites receive and store electricity.
That work could become increasingly important as Ethiopia adds more mobile connections, cloud services, data infrastructure and digital financial products. More digital activity usually means more equipment and greater electricity demand. Without cleaner power, network growth can drag emissions upward with it.
Ethio Telecom Builds Out EV Charging Services
The company has also moved into electric vehicle charging.
Ethio Telecom introduced its charging service in February 2025 and has since established nine ultra-fast charging stations. Together, the sites can serve as many as 108 electric vehicles at the same time.
Between February 2025 and July 2026, the network recorded more than 481,000 charging sessions and supplied about 11.2 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.
Ethio Telecom estimates the service prevented roughly 15.4 million kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions. The company says that is comparable to the amount of carbon that could be absorbed by more than 76,000 trees.
The comparison is the company’s own estimate, but the charging volumes still show that the service has moved beyond a tiny pilot.
Ethiopia has been promoting electric transport partly to reduce its dependence on imported fuel. The country’s electricity system is largely supported by renewable hydropower, giving EV adoption a different emissions profile from markets where charging still depends heavily on coal or gas.
Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Campaign Keeps Growing
Ethio Telecom’s programme forms part of Ethiopia’s wider Green Legacy Initiative, a national drive built around reforestation, land restoration and climate resilience.
The Ethiopian government set a target of planting eight billion seedlings during the 2026 season. A nationwide planting campaign on August 3 aimed to put 800 million seedlings into the ground in a single day.
Large targets do not remove the hard parts. Seedlings still need suitable locations, water, protection and long-term monitoring.
Ethio Telecom’s reported survival rate and maintenance spending suggest the company wants to show that its contribution goes beyond the initial planting count.
A Greener Telecom Network Could Also Be a Stronger One
Ethio Telecom’s green digital infrastructure push brings several projects under one strategy: tree planting, solar telecom sites, battery storage, network modernisation and EV charging.
Some deliver environmental benefits directly. Others help solve ordinary business problems such as high fuel costs, unstable power supplies and service interruptions.
That overlap may be the most practical part of the programme.
For telecommunications companies operating across large rural and off-grid areas, sustainability projects have a better chance of lasting when they also improve reliability and reduce operating costs. Ethio Telecom is testing that approach across a national network, not inside a small demonstration site.
