Driving Digital Transformation of the Economy in Ethiopia

Digitalization, including the telecommunications sector reform program and the introduction of mobile money, is a key part of the Ethiopian government’s Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda (HGER)2 since 2019 and implemented under the 20212030 Development Plan, the Digital Ethiopia 2025 strategy, the Communications Service Proclamation No. 1148/2019 and the National Bank of Ethiopia’s (NBE) strategic plans. In the five years since the launch of Digital Ethiopia 2025 and the start of the telecommunications reforms, the number of people covered by 3G networks has increased by 50 percent, while coverage of 4G networks has increased by eight times. This study identifies further opportunities and quantifies the economic value of adopting digital technologies across Ethiopia’s economy. It determines how these opportunities can be unlocked through policy reforms, particularly focusing on the key role that the mobile telecommunications sector and mobile money services plays in supporting the process of digitalization.