Ethio Telecom to change logo again

The state telecom monopoly is going to change its latest logo introduced in February 2012,
following the decision of the board of directors in favour
of a new one that ‘better expresses the real work’ of the monopoly.
Debretsion Gebremichael (Phd), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information and
Communication told Capital that the telecom firm is on the process to introduce another logo
replacing the current one.
“We have two reasons to replace the new logo,” Debre Tsion explained. “The current logo does
not express the company fully and the country’s situation, and secondly it is similar with the logo
of another company that is based outside of Ethiopia.”
Euroclean, a Turkish based commercial cleaning company actually does have a logo which is
similar in design but different in colour and size.
As part of modernizing the telecom operation, France Telecom introduced the new ‘e’ logo
replacing the previous logo that depicts a lion in a traditional drum.

“We are now more than a telecom company. Our company has a clear goal of allowing
Ethiopian citizens to flourish and realize their full potential based on the principles of sharing,”
Jean Michel Latute, former CEO of ET had said while introducing the new logo back in
February.
According to sources, the main aim for changing the new logo is due to the fact that the telecom
company identified another similar logo in another country. “The other logo looks identical with
the current ethio telecom logo. The only difference is the colour and the size of the logo,” these
sources added.
Abdurahim Ahmed, Corporate Communication head of ET, told Capital that the telecom
company is under process to replace the new logo.
He said that the current logo introduced ten months ago had been developed by France
Telecom experts.
“We are going to replace it once we have the new logo ready, but we have not decided how to
do it,” he explained.
Some Ethio telecom employees Capital spoke to criticized the move as unnecessary after only
a few months since the launching of the new logo, not even a year. “The company has already
spent a lot of money to introduce and post the new logo,” they argued. “Most of ethio telecom
offices are branded with the new logo and a lot of scratch cards are printed using this logo,”
these sources added concerned about the cost they expect to be very high to replace the
existing logo.
However the minister rebuffed the telecom staffs and other observers’ opinion saying, “We have
stopped printing posters and other related works associated with the logo some time back and
the cost spent on it is not that much.”
When the telecom company introduced the logo back in February 2012 at the Sheraton Addis, it
also launched the opening of several new customer offices fully decorated with the new logo,
which has a colour combination of green, yellow and light blue.
At the launching of the new logo, officials of the telecom explained that the ‘e’ shape with blue,
green and yellow colour combination holds the ideas of: sharing and fertility inspired by the
green ecosystem of Ethiopia; sharing smiles; sharing a new story (a symbolic way to illustrate a
new chapter for ET). “It is one important step of our evolution,” the telecom enterprise statement
noted at the launching ceremony.
This new logo was also selected as it shares the ‘e’ with Ethiopia, ethio telecom, earth,
enthusiasm and energy.
After the European giant France Telecom took over the management of ET it managed to make
several changes including the name and logo of the state monopoly.
The contract with France Telecom ended on December 13, 2012, though the company had
shown interest to get a renewal. For its services, the Ethiopian government has paid 30 million
Euros.
The 60 year old former ET logo portraying a lion with a drum and sticks resembled symbols
many of the state owned enterprises use, including Ethiopian Shipping Lines, Ethiopian Roads
Authority, Anbessa City Bus Enterprise and the flag carrier Ethiopian Airlines, which changed it
recently. The logos used by these state enterprises carry the symbol of a lion pointing their
formation to the era of Emperor Haile Selassie I.

www.capitalethiopia.com/