The World Bank announced new support for Ethiopia's digital transformation. The institution is currently working on a new project called Digital Ethiopia Foundations, under which it plans to invest about $200 million to support the country’s digital economy. The announcement was recently made by Ousmane Dione, the World Bank's Country Director for Eritrea, Ethiopia, Southern Sudan, and Sudan.

According to him, the project will provide funds to further strengthen the regulator and to prepare the legal and regulatory elements of the digital ecosystem, in areas such as e-commerce and digital identification. The project will also support the development of digital government services, digital entrepreneurship, and provide a digital response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Digital Ethiopia Foundations project is part of the Digital Ethiopia 2025 strategy, an essential component of the local economic reform program and the 10-year national development plan (2020-2030) adopted by the country in 2019. It seeks to make Ethiopia a digital hub across the continent.

The liberalization of the telecommunications sector currently underway, which the World Bank has been assisting since 2019, is the initial phase of the country's digital transformation. Once this 2.0 transformation is effective, it will contribute to national development through sustainable and inclusive economic growth, better governance, and more efficient service delivery.

Muriel Edjo