Ethiopia digital transformation efforts progress as country readies for ID4Africa 2025

Ethiopia’s digital ID and broader digital transformation efforts are on a good footing thanks in part to the establishment of strategic partnerships in the past several months. These gains come as the country is preparing to host the ID4Africa Annual General Meeting of 2025 from May 20-23 in the capital Addis Ababa.

Speaking about these efforts recently, the country’s Minister of Innovation and technology, Belete Molla, said a government strategy which seeks to fast-track the establishment of important digital public infrastructure, trigger innovation and job creation is at the frontline of Ethiopia’s success.

“Strategic partnerships with private companies, government entities, and international organizations have been instrumental in driving these initiatives forward” Molla was quoted by local media as saying at a quarterly review meeting last month.

Beyond the Digital Ethiopia 2025 strategy, the country also has a 2025-2030 digital government program whose success is hinged on the national digital ID.

Apart from the national digital ID whose penetration is growing by the day, the minister also attributed the digital transformation success to the increasing adoption of digital payment systems, in a move that is also seen as strengthening the digital economy.

Ethiopia has already enrolled 14.6 million people for the Fayda ID, and hopes to reach a target of 90 million registrations by 2030 with support from technical partners like Laxton.

To the Innovation and Technology minister, this digital public infrastructure would not function at the optimum if there were no connectivity. In this regard, he lauded the efforts of the two major telecommunications companies operating in the country for their role in supporting the government’s digitalization drive. Connectivity has been identified as a major driver of Africa’s digital economy.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s digital transformation efforts have been receiving commendation from other African countries. Recently, government ministers from Mali and The Gambia expressed admiration for the efforts during recent trips to the country. A Zambian official also recently spoke about Ethiopia’s digital ID model, praising it for its homebuilt nature.

This progress by Ethiopia’s digital ID system will be in the spotlight during the ID4Africa event which it will host later this month.

One session on Day 1 of the event labelled “Spotlight: i-on-Ethiopia” will focus on the Fayda digital ID implementation progress, challenges and perspectives, and will see participation from four stakeholders who are central to the ID program’s configuration. Its Executive Director Yodahe Zemichael will moderate the discussion.

Article Topics

Digital Ethiopia 2025  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  Ethiopia  |  Ethiopia National ID Program (NIDP)  |  Fayda  |  ID4Africa 2025  |  Laxton