Ethiopia’s National Telecommunications Company Ethio Telecom is focusing on tech startups, including funding

Ethio Telecom has launched a new program to assist local businesses in developing forward-thinking business models in digital banking and technology.

The telecom says that the Ethiotel innovation program was made to help businesses with new ideas overcome some of the problems they face when trying to sell their products.

The new program will offer a Support and Commercialization package that includes mentoring, networking, and sharing of experiences, as well as both financial and in-kind support in the form of telecom resources.

A Three-Phased Support Approach

The first part of the three-part plan started on Monday with Ethio Telecom. It will last from February 10 to April 30, 2023.The telco will choose 100 new businesses that use cloud and mobile financial service technology through a national competition.

Already, startups with business ideas in the cloud and mobile banking have been asked to join the competition. (Between February 10 and March 12, 2023, startups can send an application to ethiotelinnovation@ethiotelecom.et via email.)

The initiative will help 100 companies take their successful ideas to a larger scale by giving them advice, money, and materials.

In addition, Huawei Technologies will pay the winners to go to China to get international experience.

II & III Phases

The program’s second phase, which Ethio Telecom plans to do between March 20 and July 30, 2023, will focus on more than just the financial and technology industries.

The program is meant to help 150 startups make apps, solutions, services, and digital content for consumers and businesses.

The program’s last phase, which begins in August 2023, aims to capitalize on the institutionalization of new companies and technology.

Ethiopian Telecom says that it will use the best ideas from the first two phases to make a research and development center, or TechHub.