Ministry, Internet Society Sign Agreement to Advance Digital Economy in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa June 9/2021 (ENA) Ministry of Innovation and Technology, and the Internet Society announced a new collaboration agreement today that will help advance the digital economy and drive economic transformation.

Ministry of Innovation and Technology State Minister Ahmedin Mohammed and Africa Internet Society Regional Vice President Dawit Bekele signed the agreement during the Advanced Data Science and Visualization training.

The government launched digital transformation strategy last year to leverage digital technologies to foster development and growth.

The agreement will support the implementation of the strategy to help the country develop digital services in agriculture, manufacturing, services, and tourism.

The agreement will also help expand connectivity to rural areas, build Internet infrastructure, and strengthen Internet governance.

During the event, Innovation and Technology State Minister Ahmedin Mohammed, said the government has set the digital transformation of the national economy as one of its strategic priorities.

“The Digital 2025 strategy has a goal to see digital transformation playing a key role for inclusive prosperity; innovating and applying the culture, practices, processes and technologies of the digital era to respond to citizens raised expectations,” he said.

“This strategy shall be realized through collaboration and commitment of everyone including government, non-governmental, development partners and societies. The strategy demands aggressive commitment to increase infrastructure, enabling systems, digital applications, and enabling ecosystem,” he added.

Internet Society Regional Vice President Dawit Bekele on his part said “this collaboration comes at a time when Ethiopia is liberalizing its telecommunications sector which is in line with the increasing the infrastructure. We sign this agreement to increase rural connectivity and make sure that everyone in Ethiopia benefits from the digital transformation.”

The Internet Society is committed to support Ethiopia in its vision to create an inclusive digital economy through the Digital Ethiopia 2025 Strategy, he added.