Ethiopian tech hubs xHub Addis and iceaddis have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in order to enhance the country’s tech startup ecosystem through research, training and marketing.
xHub – which launched in November of last year – and iceaddis said the MoU was aimed at building the two communities through joint research and projects, the sharing of facilities and resources, and the exchange of information.
The hubs said with the growing tech community in Ethiopia such partnerships are crucial to enhancing the community’s entrepreneurial capacities.
Through the partnership, xHub and iceaddis hope to provide an instrument for establishing various collaborative initiatives, enhancing open collaboration on sharing expertise, experiences and tools.
Research will particularly focus on the areas of mobile, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship, with both hubs agreeing to provide staff time, facilities and materials to foster collaboration. Members of each hub will also be able to work from both.
“At iceaddis we rely on our partners to support the tech community in Ethiopia and beyond. xHub Addis is a strategic partner we have, and one of the closest as we are supporting tech communities with similar activities. The signing of the MoU continues a friendship we have established before,” said iceaddis co-founder Markos Lemma.
xHub Addis manager Kibrom Tadesse said his hub could learn a lot from iceaddis as the latter is an experienced player in the tech innovation scene in Ethiopia.
“Though there are a lot of gifted techies in Ethiopia, the culture of bringing them together to innovate still needs to grow. I believe that such partnerships will be a springboard to bridging this gap and launching Ethiopia to become a technology exporter,” he said.
