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The fifth ICT Exhibition and Conference in Ethiopia was opened last week at the Addis Ababa Exhibition Center. The Exhibition was held under the theme of ‘ICT is the Road to Development and Transformation’.

Domestic IT colleges, government agencies working in the ICT sector, training center, and international companies from China, England and Egypt engaged in the production and development of ICT products participated in the exhibition.

The exhibition offers an opportunity for consumers and producers to develop networks and to enhance experience sharing amongst countries said Debretsion Gebremichael, Minister of Communication and Information Technology.

Buna International Bank, Ethiopia signed an agreement to implement CORE Banking Solutions with Infosys. BIB signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Indian based Infosys for the installation of the system which will allow the bank to launch electronic banking, last week.

Infosys will commence with deploying the project in three weeks after negotiations are concluded between the two sides said Gezahegn Dugassa, Project Manager for ICT with BIB.  It is expected that part of the new system will be implemented by the Ethiopian New Year, the deadline imposed by the National Bank of Ethiopia on all banks to automate their banking services, he noted.

Bole International Airport, Ethiopia launched self check-in-services starting to ease long lines at check in counters at the International Terminal.

The airport currently has 28 check in counters and has added four self check in kiosks where customers can enter their flight number, destination and reservation code and be able to print a boarding pass.

The self checks in booths are especially ideal for those who do not have check in luggage as they can then proceed to Immigration without delays.

Ethiopia is to inaugurate a 30 million birr road sector database system in the next few weeks after completing transferring its data to the data base according to Ethiopian Roads Authority.

The project is part of ERA’s development program to modernize and transform its initiative. The development program has  36 projects, including standardizing various communications, including correspondences such as memos, emails, a road history database, online status for projects, a data warehouse for easy extraction of historical data on the existing roads, research and development.

It is expected that the new database system will support the monitoring and decision-making for the management by supplying consolidated information through a performance appraisal system, tender analysis, and cost estimates for each project said Mulugeta Demisse, Director of the Quality Assurance and Inspection Directorate. 

Awash International Bank, Ethiopia has signed a 3.5 million US dollar agreement with British Misys International Banking Systems to upgrade the centralized, real time, online, electronic CORE banking system.

The bank floated a bid for the IT upgrade last August attracting a range of international companies including, Swiss Temenos Group, US Oracle Flext, Indian Infosys and Misys. Awash bank, which had previously had dealings with Misys when it installed its current system, decided to stick with the UK-based company.

The upgrade is expected to allow AIB to provide services to its 500,000 customers in finance, credit, human resources packages and Islamic banking. The technological upgrades also include anti-money laundering software.

Ethiopia’s full service communications agency, 251 Communications, has teamed up with Consumer Insight, an African research agency. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding on 21 March 2012 in Nairobi.

“It’s a win, win,” said Addis Alemayehou, CEO of 251. Speaking right after signing the deal, he went on to explain how both companies will benefit from the marriage. “This heralds a new era in consumer research in Ethiopia. We will greatly benefit from Consumer Insight’s African experience, while Consumer Insight will benefit from our local knowledge of our country”.

“Ethiopia,” says a visibly excited Ndirangu wa Maina, the MD of Consumer Insight, “is an understated giant. With its population of over 80 million people, it’s such a vast market that anyone who is serious about the region and Africa can’t afford to ignore any more.”

The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia installed CORE launching solutions introducing the upgraded, centralized, online, real time service as of last week.

In accordance with the mandate put out by the National Bank, 34 branches of CBE have managed to interface with the National Payment System with the effective migration of information on more than 1 million accounts.

The bank expects to finalize work on all of its 92 branches in Addis Ababa in the next two months and to integrate the main regional towns by the end of the current financial year according to an anonymous official at the Bank.

HP today announced it has established operations in Ethiopia with the opening of an office in Addis Ababa and the appointment of Mesfin Makonnen as Country Manager.

Customers in Ethiopia will now have better access to HP’s broad portfolio of products and services, allowing them to transform their businesses by taking advantage of improved IT infrastructure and a future based cloud computing and connectivity services. Governments can leverage HP technology to drive economic growth and stability by modernizing the delivery of services in key areas such as education, healthcare and e-Government services. HP also intends to broaden access of its consumer printer and PCs in the country.

HP is proud to establish operations in Ethiopia at a time when we are fulfilling our potential as a high-growth economy,” said Mesfin Makonnen “Bringing HP’s cloud-based and connectivity technologies by to the Ethiopian government and local companies can help build a strong technology industry.  In turn this generates economic growth and sees innovative solutions that can make a positive impact in Ethiopia.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has become the latest member of the Mobile Monday group dedicated to developing the mobile ecosystem domestically and internationally.

Addis Ababa joined the group during the Innovation African Digital Summit that took place here from the 27th to the 29th of March.

Mobile Monday family welcomes Addis Ababa and looks forward to future collaboration with the Information and Communication Technology Association-Ethiopia according to Jari Tammisto, Chief Executive and President of Mobile Monday Global.

Chinese telecom corporation, ZTE, has proposed to set up a Research and Development Unit to serve the African market in Ethiopia as part of the future ICT Park said Debretsion Gebremichael, Information and Communication Technology Minister and in charge of the ICT Park project.

Huawei is one of the other Chinese and Indian ICT companies interested in establishing similar units in the ICT Park according to Debretsion.