Chinese Ambassador visits Dire Dawa, Sidama Region, SNNPR
Chinese Ambassador Zhao Zhiyuan met with Kedir Juhar Ibrahim, Mayor of Dire Dawa and visited Dire Dawa industrial park.
Ambassador Zhao indicated China’s willingness to work with Dire Dawa to strengthen cooperation in the field of industrialization and increase local employment, bringing more benefits to both sides.
The Ambassador also visited Sidama Region and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region, during which he met with government officials and conducted a field trip to Hawassa industrial park.
Ambassador Zhao indicated China’s willingness to work with the two Regions in strengthening cooperation in the field of industrialization and encouraged Chinese companies to increase investment, fulfill corporate social responsibility and create more jobs, bringing more benefits to local people. Officials from the two Regions highly praised contributions made by China to local economic development.
MoIT, Mastercard, CBE collaborate to transform government services
The Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MINT), Mastercard, and Commercial Bank of Ethiopia have partnered to enable payments through the government e-services portal, which will allow Ethiopians to access and pay for government services digitally for the first time. This supports the government’s wider digital transformation plan to modernize Ethiopia’s payment systems and foster a more financially inclusive ecosystem.
The partnership will see Mastercard integrate its Payment Gateway Services (MPGS) infrastructure into Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, which will enable payment collection on behalf of the government. As part of the first phase, members of the Civil Society Organization of Ethiopia will soon be able to pay for their operational licenses on the portal with any branded payment card. This is the first of many use cases that will be offered through the portal, which will act as a one-stop gateway for citizens and organisations to access and pay for government services.
The integration of the e-services portal with MPGS follows the Memorandum of Understanding between MINT and Mastercard in 2020 to digitize payments and enhance service delivery to citizens in line with Ethiopia’s Digital Transformation Strategy known as ‘Digital Ethiopia 2025’.
