Ethiopia Targets Technological Sovereignty, Digital Transformation

Addis Ababa, September 29, 2026 (ENA) — Ethiopia is seeking to build national technological capacity by moving from using and adopting foreign technologies toward developing, manufacturing and exporting homegrown solutions, Minister of Innovation and Technology Belete Molla said.

Speaking at the opening of the STRIDE Ethiopia 2.0 Summit 2026, Belete said the country must strengthen its capacity to understand, adapt and create technologies as artificial intelligence, biotechnology and space science reshape global competition.

“Using foreign technology is no shame; the shame is failing to adapt anything from the technology we use,” Belete said.

He said technological sovereignty does not mean isolation, but the ability to choose, adapt, develop and use technology according to the country’s needs while maintaining the capacity to make independent decisions.

Belete said technology is also increasingly important for economic competitiveness, national security and data sovereignty, stressing that Ethiopia should maintain the ability to make strategic technological choices while continuing to collaborate with the international community.

He also highlighted the government’s efforts to strengthen the startup and innovation ecosystem, noting that the Startup Proclamation provides mechanisms such as a National Startup Fund, regulatory sandbox and special incentives to support emerging businesses and innovation.

Belete said Ethiopia has made significant progress in digital transformation over the past five years, moving from analog systems to digital platforms and from isolated government services toward connected digital public infrastructure.

He said Digital Ethiopia 2030 will focus on expanding and integrating digital services and delivering measurable improvements in people’s lives, including wider digital identification, digital payments and secure information exchange, while digitally empowering key sectors including agriculture, health, education and manufacturing.

“We must digitally empower agriculture, health, education, and manufacturing. The measure of our success will be how much our people’s lives have improved,” he said.

The minister also stressed the need for research and innovation to address practical national challenges, including increasing agricultural productivity, saving lives and improving industrial productivity. He said research should move from paper to society, from laboratories to factories and from writing to the market, while Ethiopia should move from purchasing technology to adapting, manufacturing and eventually exporting it.

He further emphasized the growing importance of artificial intelligence, biotechnology and space science, urging Ethiopia to develop its own capabilities and ensure that emerging technologies are human-centered, responsible, transparent and inclusive.

“Ethiopia has no option to remain a mere spectator in the age of artificial intelligence. No one will build artificial intelligence for us that understands our languages and solves our problems,” he said.

Belete said young people are Ethiopia’s greatest wealth in the new technological era and should be developed as programmers, researchers, engineers and entrepreneurs who can build the country’s future. He said Ethiopia’s 50-year journey in science, technology and innovation has laid the foundation for the next phase of national technological development, while the past five years have created momentum for change and the next five years should turn that change into national capacity.

The summit is being held from September 29 to October 1 under the theme “Fifty Years Journey, Five Years of Delivery, Fifty Years Ahead,” bringing together government officials, former leaders of the sector, researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, development partners, technology communities and youth to reflect on Ethiopia’s science, technology and innovation journey and discuss its future direction.