ÉTHIOPIE 4.0 Project - An academia partnership for the development of Industry 4.0

Based on agriculture, the Ethiopian economy is now industrialising, triggering a high demand for technicians and engineers. 
Developing an advanced manufacturing industry is one of Ethiopia’s priorities for the next ten years. For this reason, the country is currently building various industrial parks. The priority? Roll out advanced manufacturing systems, relying on skilled workers trained to tackle the technological globalisation brought about by Industry 4.0, which is revolutionising the way that companies manufacture, improve and distribute their products. 
Manufacturers are integrating new technologies, notably the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and analytics, as well as artificial intelligence and machine-learning  at their production sites and across all their operations. The use of Industry 4.0 technological tools aims to optimise and enhance the agility of manufacturing process by making them more efficient and reducing their environmental impact.

The ÉTHIOPIE 4.0 project aims to structure a long-term academic partnership to deliver higher education training at the Addis Ababa Institute of Technology: a quality, job-oriented Bachelor’s/Licence, Master’s, PhD/Doctorate programme, attractive at national and international level. The ambition? Train technicians and industrial experts in the field of cutting-edge digital technologies linked to Industry 4.0, as industrial development and domestic production of products are priorities for the country’s sustainable development. 

The project was selected for the second edition of the “Academia Partnerships Africa-France” programme (PeA). It is financed by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs via the Agence française de développement (AFD). The PeA programme is implemented by the Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR – French National Research Agency) and Campus France with support from the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

This project contributes to the achievement of the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

• Co-build quality, job-oriented training programmes on the African continent (SDG 4).
• Promote sustainable industrialisation that benefits all and foster innovation (SDG 9).