Ethiopia approves five-year strategy to expedite digital transformation

Ethiopia’s council of ministers has greenlighted the Digital Ethiopia 2030 strategy, a blueprint intended to add traction to the country’s ongoing digital transformation efforts.

The document was approved on November 29, state broadcaster EBC reports, just days after it was sent in for validation by the National Digital Transformation Council.

Deputy Prime Minister Temesgen Tiruneh had announced the examination of the strategy by the Council in an X post, saying it comes at a time when the country is pushing ahead with its digital transformation drive.

He noted that the Council also evaluated ongoing registration efforts for the Fayda national digital ID, and “examined how current and newly launched digital projects align with the Digital Ethiopia 2025 Strategy.”

Registrations for the Fayda digital ID have reached 28.8 million as of December 1.

Before the cabinet approval, the Digital Ethiopia 2030 strategy had been discussed on a number of occasions by Ethiopian officials. An advisor in the Ministry of Innovation and Technology said in a webinar last year that the Fayda digital ID is central to the implementation of the strategy.

The new strategy is a follow-up of the Digital Ethiopia 2025 strategy whose implementation concludes at the end of this month. Under the strategy, the Ethiopian government says it made tremendous achievements in digital transformation, paramount among which is the launch of the national digital ID program.

Ethiopia was hailed a few months ago for its leading role in digital transformation in the Horn of Africa, driven in large part by the strategic collaboration is has built with international development partners and private sector actors.

The country has been building what it calls a “govestack” which includes the digital ID, digital payments and data exchange components of digital public infrastructure (DPI).

According to the government, the new strategy will build on ongoing efforts in several areas including expanding digital connectivity by increasing access and modernizing internet infrastructure, harnessing digital skills and talents, enabling the growth of tech startups, and ensuring the responsible deployment and use of AI for public service delivery. The plan also intends to expand issuance of the Fayda ID as the government hopes to reach 90 million people by 2030.

Article Topics

Africa  |  Digital Ethiopia 2030  |  digital ID  |  digital inclusion  |  Ethiopia  |  Fayda  |  FaydaPass