Addis Ababa(WNAM Monitoring): Ethiopia is on a good track to realize Digital Ethiopia 2025 Strategy, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said.
At a panel discussion, which reviewed the mid-term performance of Digital Ethiopia 2025 Strategy at Adwa Victory Memorial Museum today, the premier stated that the main enablers to achieve Digital Ethiopia 2025 Strategy are on a good track.
According to him, the country had been facing many challenges financially when the Digital Ethiopia 2025 Strategy was launched.
The debt to GDP ratio was about 60 percent, there was no enough money to pay salary and carryout the construction of big projects like the GERD which requires 1 billion USD, he elaborated.
The bottlenecks at the time called for a different idea and approach because the problems were unique and required homegrown solutions with some general experiences bench-marked, Abiy noted.
As a result, the Homegrown Economic Reform and the Digital Ethiopia 2025 Strategy, among others, were formulated.
The prime minister pointed out that the enablers for the strategy included reliable energy supply and robust data infrastructure as well as strong cyber-security, which is a backbone of digitization critical to the success of Digital Ethiopia 2025 Strategy.
He further revealed that Ethiopia has laid a strong foundation for technological advancement by prioritizing legal frameworks, strategic planning, institutional development, telecom infrastructure expansion, the establishment of AI institutions, and efforts to address energy challenges.
By strengthening the foundations and the enablers that are on good track, Ethiopia’s digitization will deliver maximum benefit to its citizens, the PM noted.
Abiy announced on the occasion that a national council that oversees the implementation and performance of the Digital Ethiopia 2025 Strategy will be established within the coming weeks.
The national council will be led by Deputy Prime Minister Temesgen Tiruneh that consists of representatives from the pertinent institutions and the private sector.
Innovation and Technology Minister Belete Molla emphasized on his part the strategy’s alignment with Ethiopia’s national goals, including the Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda, the Ten-Year National Development Plan, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the African Union Continental Digital Transformation Strategy.
