A new report by the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Organization (EIPO) reports that over 87 percent of software sold in the country is pirated.
This is not far from what the Business Software Alliance reported Eastern and Southern Africa software piracy stood at 83 percent almost double the global average at 42 percent.
The EIPO study show that users in Addis Ababa buy pirated software or download it illegally and therefore there was need for an industry check.
According to Birhanu Adelo, EIPO Director General, the organisation has called in Microsoft to help combat the illegal practice and drum up awareness on the advantages of using genuine software, its safety and reliability and how piracy derails economic and national growth.
The organisation signed an MOU with Microsoft to train procurement managers in all government offices and business journalists.
The understanding also promotes original software distributors. The two have also launched a media company to educate consumers, highlight benefits of genuine softwares, protection of intellectual property rights and fostering local innovations according to Wanja Muriithi, Microsoft Representative for Eastern and Southern Africa.
