Ethiopia has announced tax exemptions on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment as part of the country’s “ICT for Development” campaign.

The Ethiopian Information, Communications and Technology Development Agency (EICTDA) said that the tax free incentive on ICT equipment will help Ethiopia to enhance its ICT infrastructure in the next few years.

Ethiopia, home to around 80 million people, is said to be poor in its ICT infrastructure, which is now getting due attention by the government, with the country investing billions of dollars on ICT development.

Speaking at the closing of Ethiopia’s 3rd ICT exhibition, which was held in Addis Ababa for the past five days, bringing local and foreign ICT companies together, Dr. Mesifin Belachew, EICTDA Deputy Director said that the tax free incentive on ICT equipment will be applied both to local and foreign companies, who want to invest on ICT.

Belachew said that the introduction of tele-medicine, and connecting higher learning institutions, among others, are some of the many positive results that have been achieved so far.

He indicated that a huge investment is underway to establish a Technology Park in Addis Ababa, which is expected to become a hub for IT investment and services in the country and the wider region.

“Once the IT Park goes fully operational, close to 350,000 professionals will be employed,” said Belachew.

Source: APA