Ethiopia has advanced its digital governance strategy, improving its UN E-Government Development Index (EGDI) ranking by 10 places since 2022, reflecting growing public service digitalization.
- Ethiopia ranks 169th out of 192 UN member states on the 2024 EGDI, positioning it in the “Middle EGDI” category. While comparable to many African nations, it lags BRICS and high-EGDI African economies like Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana. || Source: GSMA
- Between 2019 and 2020, Ethiopia launched major digital economy initiatives, including the Home-Grown Economic Reform and Digital Strategy 2025, digitizing over 130 services across 25 government agencies, including e-trade, e-procurement, and e-services.
+ Moreover, in 2020, Ethiopia’s telecom sector got a dedicated regulator, the Ethiopian Communication Authority. In 2021, a Safaricom-led consortium secured a 15-year license, introducing competition from the private sector. - In 2023, the Fayda ID program introduced a 12-digit digital identity number. The initiative targets 90 million registered residents by 2026, including nationals and non-nationals. || Source: Strathmore University
- The National Bank of Ethiopia’s 2023-2026 strategic plan targets a rapid expansion of digital payments, increasing transaction volume from 750 million to 6 billion and value from $30.86 billion to $134.99 billion.
+ The government developed an IT Park near Addis Ababa to attract ICT outsourcing and IT manufacturing. This initiative aligns with Ethiopia’s push to strengthen its digital economy.
