Ethiopia's innovation minister tells SSGI to align next strategy with national priorities

Ethiopia's Minister of Innovation and Technology, Frehiwot Tamru, visited the Space Science and Geospatial Institute (SSGI) on 26 October 2026 with the heads of the ministry's affiliated institutions. The visit assessed the institute's capacity and performance against its mandate, as a basis for its next five-year strategic plan.

She directed SSGI to extend the digital addressing system, now in selected cities, nationwide; to build an integrated national geospatial information infrastructure serving agriculture, urban development, infrastructure planning and smart cities; and to coordinate a comprehensive study on a national communications satellite. SSGI must also review the policies, proclamations and regulations behind its mandate and propose amendments, citing gaps in coordination and legal enforcement on sharing geospatial data. The new plan should align with the Grand Strategy, have legal backing, set clear responsibilities and target measurable public outcomes.

Why it matters: A nationwide digital addressing rollout and an integrated geospatial infrastructure would shape demand for data, surveying and mapping work in Ethiopia. The legal review could also settle how federal and regional bodies share spatial data.