Ethiopia has selected India’s state-owned telecom and ICT firm RailTel Corporation to build a greenfield data centre for its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Addis Ababa, The Economic Times reported.
The facility is expected to be completed within one year and will be followed by three years of operation and maintenance support once it goes live. RailTel said the project forms part of India’s contribution to the Digital Ethiopia Strategy.
The assignment was made through India’s Ministry of External Affairs, reflecting a government-to-government framework for the engagement. The project follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ethiopia in December 2025, during which he highlighted India’s intention to expand cooperation in digital infrastructure and technology. Modi emphasised India’s ability to share expertise in digital public infrastructure, including telecom and ICT systems, as part of a broader strategic partnership with Ethiopia.
RailTel, incorporated in 2000 and headquartered in New Delhi, is a Navratna public sector undertaking under India’s Ministry of Railways. Originally established to modernise communication networks for Indian Railways, the company now operates one of India’s largest optical fibre networks, spanning over 63,000 kilometres, and provides broadband, VPN, cloud platforms, data centres, and managed ICT solutions. It also operates certified tier‑III data centres and manages the RailWire public Wi‑Fi network across thousands of railway stations in India.
The Ethiopian project forms part of RailTel’s wider international expansion strategy, aimed at exporting India’s digital infrastructure models to partner countries. The company cited its participation in Sri Lanka’s Unique Identity programme, funded by the Government of India, as a recent example. RailTel is also exploring partnerships with global original equipment manufacturers to facilitate technology transfer, promote Make in India manufacturing, and support localisation of advanced digital technologies.
The company is actively seeking international opportunities across Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia, the Caribbean, South America, and Australia, and has invited Expressions of Interest from globally present firms and agencies to collaborate on overseas projects.