Ethiopia keen on laying solid digital infrastructure: Official

Addis Ababa, March 16, 2021 (FBC) –State Minister of Finance, Dr. Eyob Tekalign, said the Government of Ethiopia is keen on laying solid digital infrastructure.

“Ethiopia as its builds its digital economy is intent on laying solid digital infrastructure,” he said at the launching ceremony of the RedFox Data Centre in Ethiopia.

Having the right kind of digital infrastructure will be of paramount importance to support Ethiopia’s ever-growing economy and immense need to digitize education, health, agriculture, cultural heritage information, as well as all government and banking services in the country, he said.

The launching of the data center marks a major milestone for Ethiopia and happens at this exciting juncture where activities are being undertaken to reform its telecom sector.

“This he said is part of Ethiopia’s Home-grown Economic Reform Program, which has ICT at the heart of the digital economy,” the State Minister indicated

He also stated that in line with the Digital Strategy 2025, building a digital economy requires a more enhanced digital infrastructure that can improve speed, volume, efficiency, and access which are pre-requisites for the economic transformation Ethiopia envisages.

The State Minister has also expressed his firm belief that RedFox Data Centre will significantly contribute to building Ethiopia’s digital economy, lifting the start-up ecosystem, and overall accelerating the digital transformation of the country.

With the increased utilization of public cloud services and the additional investments into private and hybrid cloud solutions, the country anticipates that organizations in Ethiopia will be more enabled to focus on innovation and building digital businesses at scale, he said.

Ethiopia recognizes the growing demand for global cloud-based services and as the country builds cloud-friendly regulations; it is anticipated that the data center market will be a key factor for driving growth in Ethiopia, according to Dr Eyob.

The State Minister expressed his delight in seeing Ethiopians and the diaspora inspired to invest and innovate for a more effective and efficient digital economy to be built in Ethiopia.

RedFox was founded by Ethiopian-Diaspora Professionals with multiple years of experience in the areas of Telecom and Information Technology, according to the Ministry of Finance.