Internet Development in Ethiopia: - High-Level Findings from the After

The Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda emphasises sector reform, the acceleration of digital government services, the development of digital skills and the digitalisation of the financial and logistics sectors. [...] Figure 12: Main use limitations, 2022 Source: RIA, After Access surveys The fact that the cost of mobile data comes out as such a strong limitation despite Ethiopia having one of the lowest data prices in Africa highlights the important distinction between the relative price of data in a country and issues of affordability for the majority of people. [...] In order to achieve the ambitions of the Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda, the Ten Years Development Plan and Digital Ethiopia 2025, and to move beyond that to becoming a leader in Africa’s digital economy, policy interventions are required to support individuals and firms to take hold of the opportunities the Internet offers. [...] These interventions should include: November 2023 24 Research ICT Africa Internet Development in Ethiopia Removing the high barriers to internet access and use The low level of access to and use of broadband is driven mainly by a lack of awareness of the Internet or knowledge of how to use it, as well as a lack of affordable devices. [...] To address these barriers and limitations, it is important that: ❖ the Government, through the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, the regulator and operators work together to expand broadband services across the country by defining a broadband plan, increasing access to the national backbone, especially 4G and 5G coverage to ensure the quality of services to be able to use cloud and other high.