Africa’s second-most populous country, Ethiopia has partnered Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce giant to grow its digital economy. This was revealed by the Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology on the 20th of August 2019 in Hangzhou, China after the Ethiopian Minister of Innovation and Technology Getahun Mekuria met with Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group.
Alibaba Group will leverage this partnership to invest in the development of a tech city in Ethiopia. They will also encourage other Chinese companies to invest in the country. on the other hand, the Ethiopian government plans to leverage Alibaba’s Ant Financial—a fintech platform, valued at $150 billion.
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The Ethiopian Minister of Innovation and Technology Getahun Mekuria said, “Great discussion with Jack Ma on building Ethiopian Digital Economy. Jack Ma expressed he has been inspired by the reforms that have been undertaken, confirming that Ethiopia is now a key strategic partner which he will visit this year.”
In line with the partnership, Alibaba’s Chairman Jack Ma is scheduling to visit Ethiopia in November 2019 alongside top Chinese investors. This visit will help promote financial inclusion and bolster Ethiopia’s digital economy.
It is important to note that the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) recently announced that it was partnering the International Financial Corporation (IFC) and Ant Financial (Ant) to promote digital financial inclusion in Africa. This they plan to achieve through investment and technical capacity building.
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