The council of ministers approved on Monday 15 June 2020 a digital strategy with a major aim of ensuring the county’s readiness for the development of a digital technology-based economy.
The strategy that focuses on building infrastructures that support the digital economy allowing the government to properly build a system that can sustain the main contributors of the economy, agriculture, manufacturing, and service sectors, and accelerate their productivity, innovation, and access to international markets.
“The government developed the strategy due to the need for creating a long term plan aligned with the country’s growth trajectory that can support the digital economy,” said Dr. Eng. Abraham Belay, minister of Innovation and Technology in a press release made by The Ministry of Innovation and Technology
More than 80 percent of the Ethiopian population has no internet access causing difficulty in the implementation of the technological advancements that are expected to accelerate economic growth. However, the government is committed to its strategy and plans to invest millions of dollars to solve technological adversities in major sectors.
Interconnecting administrative units of the country, creating ease of business exposure, digitalizing tourism to increase tourist flow, and providing infrastructure for high potential technology firms are the main focuses of the strategy. It also allows the country to open its doors to private investment on businesses such as telecom, and power distribution currently owned by the state.
The Digital Strategy 2025 is part of the Homegrown Economic Reform and the 10-year development plan which had been developed in alliance with The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and African Union’s continental digital strategy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and other partners provided financial support to the economic reform.
