Addis Ababa – Mozambique and Ethiopia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Addis Ababa to strengthen cooperation in digital transformation, with a focus on digital identity and Public Digital Infrastructure.
The agreement was signed on Monday, 27 April, between Mozambique’s Digital Transformation and Innovation Agency and Ethiopia’s FaydaVerse Digital Solutions Enterprise, a public company of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. The signing took place on the sidelines of a state visit by Mozambican President Daniel Francisco Chapo to Addis Ababa.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described the broader outcomes of the visit as a milestone. “I held a fruitful bilateral meeting with President Daniel Francisco Chapo of Mozambique, marking the beginning of a long-lasting and tangible partnership. We also presided over the signing of several Memoranda of Understanding that will serve as the framework to shape and deepen our cooperation across strategic sectors. Together, we are turning our shared African potential into transformative reality,” he said. 
The MoU establishes a framework for technical collaboration to develop secure, inclusive and interoperable digital identity ecosystems, promote knowledge exchange, build the capacity of technical staff and roll out innovative digital infrastructure solutions.
Adilson Gomes, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mozambique’s Digital Transformation and Innovation Agency, said digital identity was a critical tool for financial inclusion, access to public services and building citizens’ trust in digital platforms. He explained that digital identity is essentially the electronic version of a citizen’s identity, allowing each person to be uniquely identified in the digital environment through secure data such as a name, identification number and other authentication elements, enabling citizens to access government and private online services without needing to travel physically.
Priority areas of cooperation under the agreement include the development of digital identity and authentication platforms, the implementation of Public Digital Infrastructure pilot projects, interoperability between government systems, capacity building for Mozambican technical experts, joint development of cybersecurity policies and solutions, and the promotion of technological sovereignty to reduce dependence on external suppliers.
“The document also provides for the creation of a Joint Working Group to coordinate the implementation of the agreed activities,” Gomes said.
Mozambique’s agency will lead institutional coordination and resource mobilisation, while FaydaVerse Digital Solutions Enterprise will provide specialised technical assistance covering the architecture and implementation of digital infrastructure, training of technical teams and systems integration in line with international best practices.
The agreement runs for three years and may be extended by mutual consent. It forms part of broader South-South cooperation in digital technologies and is aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the continent’s Digital Transformation Strategy.
