Ethiopia Puts Knowledge, Digital Services and Local Capacity at Center of New Africa-Europe Partnerships

Addis Ababa, September 18, 2026 (FMC) — Ethiopia has highlighted the growing importance of services trade in advancing structural transformation, economic diversification, employment and sustainable development in Africa at the World Trade Organization (WTO) Public Forum 2026 in Geneva.

The emphasis came during a session titled “Services Trade for Development Partnerships: Italy and Africa,” organized by the Permanent Mission of Italy and co-organized with the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Trade Centre (ITC).

Ambassador Negus Kebede, Minister Plenipotentiary on WTO Affairs at the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia in Geneva, participated as a panelist, stressing that effective services partnerships should create lasting value through knowledge transfer, technology, skills development and local capacity-building.

He highlighted the role of services across agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure, as well as the growing importance of digital and knowledge-intensive services in Africa’s economic transformation.

Ambassador Negus also highlighted Ethiopia’s cooperation with Italy in major infrastructure and hydropower projects, citing the contributions of Italian companies including Salini Costruttori, now part of Webuild, and Studio Pietrangeli.

He stressed the importance of combining international expertise with African ownership, local capabilities and long-term development priorities.

Highlighting Ethiopia’s own experience, he cited Digital Ethiopia 2030 and Ethiopian Airlines as examples of efforts to build competitive capabilities in digital and knowledge-intensive services, logistics, aviation, training and related sectors.

Ambassador Negus said Africa should move beyond being a market for digital technologies and develop the capacity to become a producer and exporter of digital and knowledge-intensive services.

He called for a new generation of partnerships based on co-investment, co-production, co-innovation and shared value creation, emphasizing that successful partnerships should go beyond delivering projects to building the capacity needed to develop the next generation of services and enterprises.

Ethiopia’s participation reflects its continued engagement in the WTO Public Forum 2026, which brings together governments, international organizations, businesses, civil society and academia to discuss emerging issues shaping the multilateral trading system and global trade.