ETHIOPIA: ICT Sector Support

This activity provided support, capacity-building, and technical assistance for establishing the Ethiopian Communications Agency (ECA) as an independent ICT sector regulatory authority. This was achieved primarily by drafting the Communication Services Proclamation No.1148/2019, promulgated on September 2, 2019. The Proclamation acts as the new law in Ethiopia governing the communications sector and its main outcomes include the establishment of ECA as an independent regulatory authority.
Besides, the team worked with the Ministry of Finance to introduce competition in the ICT sector by awarding two new full-service telecom licenses to tower companies and Internet service providers through a competitive process. Instead of the originally envisaged ICT sector master plan, the team delivered the “white paper” in September 2018, and more recently a public consultation document on sector reform, published on October 22, 2019, which effectively played the role of a master plan. Capacity-building of the new regulator was done through a series of workshops, “on-the-job” training and legislation drafting working sessions.