Ethiopia is taking strategic steps to grow its biotechnology industry.
The Ethiopian Biotechnology Institute (EBTi), which was established in 2016, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) earlier this week with the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI). The deal will see the pair cooperate to ‘promote information and knowledge sharing about joint R&D activities; and advance ‘the establishment of research facilities and laboratory infrastructure’.
“There are many challenges affecting genomics research implementation in Ethiopia, and Africa more generally, including ill-equipped facilities, poor accessibility to research centres and infrastructures and lack of local expertise. Our partnership with EBTi is about local capacity building and empowering local researchers to address some of these challenges,” Matt Poulter, BGI’s Business Development Director for Africa, said to EBTi News.
