Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Conducts Comprehensive Assessment of Preparations and Progress of the National Nuclear Energy Program

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited the Ethiopian Nuclear Energy Commission on October 22 for an on-site inspection to comprehensively assess the preparations and progress of the country's national nuclear energy program. During the inspection, Abiy explicitly stated that the research, development, and introduction of cutting-edge technologies play a pivotal supporting role in Ethiopia's long-term economic transformation process, and the country must examine the strategic value of scientific and technological innovation from a higher perspective.

In remarks delivered during the inspection, Abiy said that Ethiopia must not limit itself to addressing immediate short-term economic demands, but must also look to the future and invest heavily in science and engineering technology systems that will benefit future generations. He subsequently stated in a social media post that the next core chapter of Ethiopia's development is precisely to transform the country's enormous potential and abundant natural endowments into tangible modernization achievements, breakthroughs in hard-core technologies, and broad prosperity shared by all citizens.

Abiy emphasized that a sustained, stable, and resilient energy supply is the lifeline for accelerating the country's new industrialization, equipment manufacturing, digital infrastructure development, and overall economic development. The peaceful use of nuclear energy technologies provides Ethiopia with a major historic opportunity to build a national energy security barrier, while also enabling large-scale projects to serve as a fulcrum for driving an overall leap in basic science and multidisciplinary engineering technology capabilities.

In addition to nuclear power generation, Abiy particularly highlighted the broad application prospects of nuclear technologies in more civilian fields. He noted that isotope and radiation technologies demonstrate enormous potential in modern medical diagnosis and treatment, agricultural breeding improvement, industrial non-destructive testing, and comprehensive ecological and environmental protection, all of which are important levers for Ethiopia to achieve technological independent innovation and green, sustainable economic development.

The Ethiopian Nuclear Energy Commission currently bears the statutory responsibility for laying the institutional and engineering technology foundations for the national nuclear energy development program. During the inspection, Abiy specifically urged the Commission to vigorously cultivate a local professional talent pipeline, deepen systematic scientific research, and smoothly transfer key engineering skills to the younger generation of technical personnel. He also emphasized that the development of the country's nuclear energy endeavor must be steadfastly advanced on a peaceful, safe, responsible, and sustainable track.