The ICT Park project currently underway in Ethiopia’s capital city Addis Ababa is expected to create in the region of 300,000 jobs upon its eventual completion, says the country’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.
The project, which was initially launched in 2009 is aimed at accelerating the growth of Ethiopia’s micro enterprises as well as benefiting companies in the geographical area.
A spokesperson for the Ministry said that the project is expected to create favorable conditions, which will allow domestic companies to become competitive on the international markets.
According to spokesperson, Beker Seid, the primary objectives of the ICT Park are to provide IT based services for various sectors including manufacturing, software development, and research development as well as other services.
The project can also serve to create cooperation between the private sector, research institutes and other parties allowing for collaboration in developing the industrial sector.
The park is being is situated on 200 hectares which is divided into four distinct zones; commercial, business, warehouse and knowledge. It will also host its own incubator building of some ten thousand square metres. According to reports the first phase of the project, which is being constructed on 70 hectares of land, is near completion.
The developments infrastructure is set to include a high capacity telecom and network backbone which will be backed-up by various business support services.
The main part of the project is expected to cost nearly $45 million. The project is being funded through a public-private mechanism that is making use of public financing as well as funds received from international and domestic investors alike.
The latest development in the IT Park project has seen the Addis Ababa City Roads authority award the contract for the building of the road to the ICT Park. This is a key development as the Park is located on the city outskirts and the construction of the road is due to be completed within the next twelve to eighteen months.
Ethiopia is a key role player in the Horn of Africa region and is seen by many key role players and investors as a potential giant on the continent.
Its technology and mobile space has, however, shown relatively little growth in comparison to its neighbours like Kenya. In fact non-profits like the Internet Foundation have rated Ethiopia only ahead of Sierra Leone when it comes to internet penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa, the percentage is pegged somewhere between 0.4% and 1%.
The Ethiopian government wants to establish the country as a premier IT Hub in Africa and provide the impetus for the development of the IT sector across Ethiopia.
The building of the ICT Park as well as the recent success achieved by the ICE Innovation Hub in Addis Ababa are all aimed at redressing the current shortcomings in the IT space and place the technology sector on an upward trajectory for the future.
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