PM Abiy advocates for Pan-African digital integration to drive inclusive growth

Addis Ababa, October 9, 2025 (FMC) – At the 24th Summit of the COMESA Authority of Heads of State and Government held today at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, Kenya, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed highlighted the pivotal role of digitalization in driving Africa’s economic growth and regional integration.

The summit convened under the theme, “Leveraging Digitalization to Deepen Regional Value Chains for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth.”

Addressing the Summit, PM Abiy underscored that Africa stands at a defining moment, with technology reshaping economies, societies, and the distribution of prosperity. “For Africa, now is not the time to wait and watch,” he said, stressing that the continent possesses the people, creativity, and resources to build a prosperous and equitable future.

The Prime Minister called on regional institutions like COMESA to transform collective will into tangible progress, promoting coordination over duplication and integration over isolation. He noted that the summit’s focus on digital solutions for inclusive economic development is both timely and essential.

Digital transformation, he said, provides a unique opportunity to rewrite Africa’s economic story by building robust digital public infrastructure that enables secure identification, seamless payments, efficient access to services, and cross-border connectivity. Highlighting Ethiopia’s efforts, PM Abiy detailed the Digital Ethiopia 2030 initiative, the country’s national blueprint for inclusive digital transformation.

Through this program, Ethiopia has digitalized hundreds of public services, launched a digital ID program covering over 25 million citizens, and developed a digital payment ecosystem that processed billions of transactions last year. In addition, the nation’s AI Institute and national coding program have trained and certified more than 2.2 million young Ethiopians as innovators and creators of the future.

“From this experience, we have learned a simple truth: when Africa invests in talent and digital foundations, it can compete globally on its own terms,” PM Abiy said. He stressed the importance of connecting national digital efforts regionally, envisioning a commercial space where identification, payments, and data flow seamlessly, trade is frictionless, trust is digital, and innovation transcends borders.

The Prime Minister affirmed Ethiopia’s readiness to collaborate with neighboring countries to turn digital potential into regional power and shared prosperity, concluding with a call for clarity, courage, and connection in advancing Africa’s digital future.