Africa Should Leapfrog into Digitalization for Better Economic Circulation

June 18, 2023

 BY ESSEYE MENGISTE

ADDIS ABABA-Ministry of Innovation and Technology said that Africa should leapfrog into digitalization for efficient economy circulation.

“As Africa digitalization issue, we should leapfrog into it, because we are marginalized, we are lagging behind, and as a result the money that should be moving in the economy is out of the economy. So Digitization helps solve this problem and has a great contribution to combating theft, avoiding unnecessary waste of money,” said Abiot Sinamo (PhD), Electronics Government Development CEO at Ministry of Innovation and Technology.

“When we say we are going to build a digital economy, we do not work alone. Because there is no physical boundary, there is only cyber border. So cyber-border has no limitation, therefore corporation is a must. In this sense, a free trade zone is being established in Africa. The digital protocol is also being prepared in cooperation,” he added.

Currently, Ethiopia’s situation in the digital world has enabled nearly 60 million of its people to use mobile services. This comes from infrastructure. It is not only an infrastructure issue, but it also comes from having more operators. Government commitment was key here. A policy change that allowed private telecom service providers to enter has brought about a significant increase. When we look at the process, the telecom operator has reached its current status from a monopoly service, Dr. Engi. Abiot stated.

According to CEO, globally, there are index measurements. For example, the criteria for measuring the United Nations e-Government Index are infrastructure, e-services and services. These parameters are attractive to investors. “Equally Ethiopia has shown significant progress in the 2022 assessment. This means that infrastructure and electronic services have better. We say that we will ensure digitization infrastructure coverage, because it is not possible to achieve the desired growth through a monopoly approach,” he opined.

The Ethiopian Herald 18 June  2023