The eighth edition of the Grand African Run was held on 10 October in Alexandria, Virginia, US, bringing together participants for a celebration of African running and community. The event has built its identity around connecting diaspora audiences with the continent’s sporting heritage, with Ethiopian Olympic champions and world-class runners featuring among its guests of honour over the years.
Throught its partnership with Ethio Telecom, the Grand African Run in the United States is offering a new platform for connecting Africa’s rich running heritage with diaspora communities, bringing together sport, identity and the growing role of digital services in cross-border connections.
Ethiopia’s distance-running achievements have long carried the country’s name across international borders. The Grand African Run provides a setting where that legacy can be celebrated beyond the track, bringing together people whose connections to Ethiopia and Africa extend across generations and geography.
For Ethio Telecom, the partnership also reflects an effort to engage Ethiopians abroad through services that extend beyond traditional telecommunications. The company’s institutional roots date to 1894 making it part of the country’s national story for more than a century.
The company’s digital financial services provide a practical dimension to that international engagement. Its telebirr Remit service enables customers in supported international markets, including the United States, to send money to telebirr users in Ethiopia. Ethio Telecom reported 60.6 million telebirr customers in its 2025/26 annual performance results, reflecting the scale of its digital finance platform.
The wider opportunity for telecom operators is to build stronger relationships with customers who live, work and maintain family ties across borders. For diaspora communities, sport can offer a powerful point of connection; digital services can help sustain that connection through everyday financial and communication needs.
Ethio Telecom’s Next Horizon: Digital & Beyond 2028 strategy places digital finance and enterprise technology among its growth priorities. Its participation in the Grand African Run brings those ambitions into a community setting, linking a familiar symbol of Ethiopia’s national identity with an event built around African heritage and shared sporting achievement.
As Africa’s running legacy continues to inspire audiences around the world, the Grand African Run offers Ethio Telecom a way to carry its story into diaspora spaces through running rather than aviation, complementing the international role long associated with another of the country’s major national institutions, Ethiopian Airlines.
