Ethiopia Prioritises National Geospatial Data Infrastructure in New Strategy

H.E. Frehiwot Tamru, Ethiopia’s Minister of Innovation and Technology, visited the Space Science and Geospatial Institute together with Directors General of institutions accountable to the Ministry. The visit included a review of the Institute’s current status, capacity and performance against its national mandate and responsibilities.

During the session, Director General Dr. Abdissa Yilma presented an assessment of the Institute’s current state, covering its organizational structure, human resources and professional capabilities, resources and infrastructure, ongoing projects, and progress and challenges over the past five years. The review aimed to build an evidence-based foundation for the next five-year strategic plan, identify strengths and gaps, and determine priority actions. Participating Directors General offered constructive feedback and expressed their readiness to support further assessment and help ensure the plan addresses the identified gaps.

The Minister acknowledged the presentation and commended management’s efforts to create a conducive working environment, organize office facilities and other infrastructure, and lay the groundwork for the Institute’s next phase of development. With most initiatives still underway, she stressed the importance of building on these efforts to deliver tangible, measurable benefits for national development and citizens’ lives.

She directed the Institute to clearly map the powers and duties assigned to it under its establishing regulation and to assess its current performance against them. She also called for a review of its vision, mission and values to ensure alignment with national aspirations and values, particularly the Grand Strategy, noting that the vision should clearly reflect Ethiopia’s ambitions in space science, geospatial development and the wider ecosystem.

The Minister further asked the Institute to identify and prioritize major strategic projects that address national challenges, accelerate digital transformation and contribute substantially to national development. She placed particular emphasis on building an integrated national geospatial data foundation to support informed decision-making by federal and regional institutions, with practical value for agriculture, urban development, infrastructure planning and smart city development.

She also called for the digital addressing system, already initiated in selected cities, to be expanded nationwide through coordinated engagement with relevant stakeholders. Recognizing it as a foundation for e-commerce and other digital services, she emphasized the need to strengthen the coordination mechanisms and legal frameworks required for nationwide adoption and use.

The discussion highlighted gaps in coordination and legal enforcement affecting the joint development, sharing and use of national geospatial data. The Minister directed the Institute to review existing policies, proclamations, regulations and directives to assess how effectively they enable it to fulfil its mandate and to identify necessary improvements, affirming the Ministry’s commitment to support and facilitate coordination throughout the process.

On Ethiopia’s aspiration to have its own communications satellite, the discussion noted that a comprehensive study has yet to be undertaken. The Institute was therefore tasked with identifying and engaging relevant stakeholders to jointly conduct such a study, with its findings informing the five-year strategic plan.

The review concluded with guidance that the Institute’s next five-year strategic plan should be aligned with the Grand Strategy and national development priorities, supported by appropriate legal frameworks, and guided by clear responsibilities and coordinated implementation, with measurable national outcomes and public benefits at its centre. As part of the visit, the Minister and participating institutional leaders also toured the Institute’s facilities and received briefings on its ongoing activities and projects.