Ethiopia Laying Foundations to Make Africans Producers of Technology, Not Consumers: UNDP

Addis Ababa, February 18, 2026 (ENA)—Ethiopia is putting in place foundations to make Africans producers of technology, not just consumers, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa, Ahunna Eziakonwa-Onochie, said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, she noted that Ethiopia’s digital transformation is an example, where UNDP is for instance supporting the data center for the AI and bringing in also equipment.

Eziakonwa-Onochie commended the commitment of the government for putting in place foundations for not only Ethiopia but also for Africa in general.

“We have seen the political and governance commitments to technology in a serious way” because if governments don't commit both to the research and development aspects as well as the data aspect, then “we will be condemned to just consuming the technology that is produced elsewhere.”

In that case, technology becomes another extractive industry. “So we like the fact that Ethiopia is putting in place foundations to make Africans, to make Ethiopians producers of technology, not just consumers.”

Citing the emphasis given to AI and the science, Eziakonwa-Onochie said there is a lot of uptake on technology in this country which is instrumental for continental transformation.

The Assistant Administrator commended the establishment of the MESOB One-stop Service Center . 

The country has digitalized service delivery not only to be able to first of all scale it up and expand it to all Ethiopians, but also to make it less corrupt and people get services in one-stop shop.

“That is how technology can have an influence on governance and service delivery, which is important also to grow the economy; because if people are not receiving services faster, you are losing their contribution, their productivity towards the economy.”

Regarding the economic reform in Ethiopia, she said that there is a huge transformation driven by the economic reform. “I think all partners have really commended it as a very good approach, and building in a lot of discipline.”

According to her, Ethiopia, driven by its comprehensive reforms that have taken place in different dimensions, will achieve double digit growth.

“We are looking forward to seeing this country represent that Africa can grow at double digits. It is possible; and I think Ethiopia will be one of the first countries to demonstrate this.”

On the significance of integration to unlock Africa’s capital, UNDP Assistant Administrator Eziakonwa-Onochie said capital is not flowing into Africa to allocate for development as it should. But at the same time, we realize that Africa has a lot of capital that needs to be unlocked for its development.

“The only way to do that is to recognize our multilateral financial institutions. They are African institutions; and they need to be capitalized, but we need to work together.”

She further emphasized the role of the private sector, particularly the financial sector, in making sure that there is sovereignty in Africa's financial capabilities so that we are not so dependent on external architectures that don't favor Africa.