Nokia has announced collaboration with the Addis Ababa Science and Technology University (AASTU) and the Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAiT) to provide training on the latest technologies and industry trends, including 4G and 5G.

According to a statement, Nokia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the universities to provide high-level technical skills to students in line with rapidly changing market needs.

"As part of the agreement, Nokia will work with the two universities to provide tailored training and coaching programs and share the latest technical and business practices in the ICT sector in line with global developments and market demands. The collaboration supports the Ethiopian government's objective of using ICT as an enabler of overall socio-economic transformation," reads an excerpt from the statement.

The collaboration will support the students in acquiring the right competencies and the necessary skills to succeed in a fast-changing labour market.

A special emphasis will be put on providing equal opportunities to female students.

Dereje Engida, President of Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, said: "We are committed to providing a world-class education to our students. Collaboration with Nokia is a crucial initiative in this regard and will allow us to impart the latest technical education and introduce them to global best practices and trends and prepare them for the job market. We are delighted to collaborate with Nokia to expand our teaching capabilities and help build the skills to take Ethiopia forward."

Dr. Esayas Gebreyohannes, Scientific Director at Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, said: "Through this collaboration, our students will have access to a world leader with proven expertise in the fields of information and communications technologies."

Daniel Jaeger, Head of Central East and West Africa Market Unit at Nokia, said: "We are excited to support the universities in Ethiopia in their objectives to play a leading role in setting standards in the quality of engineering education, research, innovation and business incubation. We look forward to helping students acquire the necessary skills in the latest technologies, such as 5G, cloud computing and data analytics."

In March 2019 the IDC stated that based on its research, Ethiopia's ICT sector grew by 7% and while its market is relatively small, the growth is significant because it came off a base of just US$2.4-billion.

Mark Walker, Associate Vice President for Sub-Saharan Africa at IDC said, "The biggest buyer in Ethiopia is still government ... that is still the most attractive sector within Ethiopia. There has been a lot of investment over the last couple of years, especially out of the Middle East into Ethiopia, with state-owned enterprises like Ethiopia Airlines making the most of the investment they've received for communications infrastructure. There is still a lot of infrastructure work to be done in Ethiopia... a lot of that investment will be infrastructure-led at this stage."