ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- An Ethiopian expert on Wednesday hailed Chinese assistance in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector.
Speaking exclusively to Xinhua, Gedion Jalata, a senior advisor to the UNDP South-South Cooperation and a former consultant to UNECA-Capacity Development Division, said Chinese assistance in Ethiopia's ICT sector has helped the east African country make economic and technological leap.
Jalata is also a CEO at Center of Excellence International Consult, a consulting firm based in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.
"Chinese firms such as Huawei and ZTE have been intimately intertwined with Ethiopia's ICT sector development in recent years, including in the dramatic expansion of Ethiopia's telecom infrastructure," Jalata told Xinhua.
ZTE and Huawei's telecom expansion works have been instrumental in boosting the state-owned Ethio-Telecom's capacity and customer reach, helping the number of mobile users in Ethiopia reach near 50 million.
"I personally have travelled several times to China, most recently in November 2019, where I saw China's ICT sector playing a central role in the Asian country's development."
"The ICT sector has been instrumental in boosting various Chinese sectors ranging from logistics to online payment systems," Jalata told Xinhua.
Jalata said the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is expected to see further boost with the ever-increasing role of the ICT sector in the pan-global economic initiative.
In October 2019, China's three major mobile operators launched their long-awaited 5G service plans with users in dozens of cities making a beeline for the ultra-fast cellular network.
Ethiopian experts suggest China can help expand 5G services to foreign countries, as part of a beefed-up ICT role in the BRI.
