Work to start on Ethiopia's new ICT Park

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Some five million birr is being invested in a new ICT Park in Ethiopia aimed at boosting the country’s information technology service and offering reliable mobile broadband infrastructure.

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoCIT) is behind the project and work is set to start on its construction within a month.

The Ethio ICT Park will be situated on 200 hectares of land behind Bole International Airport in the Bole district.

Private  operators have already signed up for  25,000sqm plots including ZTE and Techno Mobile and Security Innovation Network (SINET) who will establish their own ICT incubation centres, manufacturing plants and software development centres.

Behane Keleta, project manager, said more than 12 local and international companies have also registered and taken office space in the park.

The project was presented to delegates at the 11th innovation Africa Digital Summit at the Sheraton Hotel and Minister of Industry Mekonnen Manyazewal inaugurated the plan.

Addis Alemayehu, member of the board of directors of ICT-ET, a sectoral association, and managing director of 251 Communications, a communications firm, said: “Software’s that operate in local languages will also be developed in the park.

The park will have its own road infrastructure as well as supportive facilities including a food court, restaurants, pubs, karaoke lounges, medical facilities, financial services, postal and banking services.

It will also feature facilities such as child care centres, training centres and a fire station is hoped to be completed in three years’ time.

The Park will be divided into five zones, which include business, assembly and warehouse, commercial, administration and knowledge Park.

The new park will help the Ethiopian government to boost mobile subscription in the country by 20 million in its five-year plan, dubbed the Growth & Transformation Plan (GTP), ending in 2014/15. It also envisions raising the number of internet service subscribers to 3.69 million.