Mesob One-Stop Service Centre imperative to have full sovereignty on data – Diplomats

Addis Ababa, May 1, 2025 (FMC) — Ethiopia’s newly inaugurated Mesob One-Stop Service Centre is state-of-art and technology driven service center, confirming the country is in a position to have the full sovereignty of on data, Indian Ambassador to Ethiopia said.

Ambassadors of India and Russia have commended the significant role of Mesobo One-Stop Service Center in enhancing service efficiency and accessibility.

Ambassadors of various countries based in Addis Ababa along with President Taye Atske-Selassie visited the newly inaugurated One-Stop Service Center on Wednesday.

The center, officially launched by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, brought together 12 institutions and over 40 services under one-stop, enabling citizens to access essential government services faster and conveniently.

During the visit, Indian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Anil Kumar Rai, described the center as “eye-opening” and praised the Ethiopian government’s planning and research in establishing a technology-driven, citizen-focused service hub.

The Ambassador expressed the importance of data sovereignty, commending the locally developed technology which ensures that all information or the data is kept within Ethiopia’s own databases guaranteeing its data sovereignty.

“The most interesting part is that the technology has been locally produced, and you have taken great care in ensuring that the data, which is the new resource for the world, is kept in your own servers, so that you are in a position to have the full sovereignty of your data.”

Providing services will also be phenomenally fast which makes the services accessible, and fast, and affordable, the ambassador said, adding that if the Ethiopians want to scale up in other parts of the country with this experience, they can do it much more easily.

On his Part, Russian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Evgeny Terekhin, also expressed his admiration, drawing parallels with similar establishments in his home country.

It is really a wonderful initiative and a wonderful establishment. It adds value to the time-saving service in today’s fast-paced world, he added.

“Time is irreplaceable. People often spend hours or even days moving between offices to handle various tasks,” he said, adding, “This center allows them to complete multiple services in one place, making it possible for them to use their time more meaningfully.”

The visit highlighted the growing recognition of Ethiopia’s efforts to modernize public services through innovation and inter-agency coordination, as called by ENA.