Two days after the Financial Times warned darkly of China’s “AI diplomacy” in the Global South, here is what that supposedly sinister campaign consists of in practice.
The Xinhua News Agency reports on China–Ethiopia cooperation in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, centred on something relatively unglamorous yet genuinely life-saving: weather forecasting. The Ethiopian Meteorological Institute has been working closely with the China Meteorological Administration, and most of the institute’s experts have now been trained at Chinese institutions – short courses and full academic programmes covering satellite data analysis, climate forecasting models, atmospheric research and disaster risk management.
The centrepiece is the deployment of MAZU, China’s AI-powered multi-hazard early warning platform, which combines machine learning with physical forecasting models and meteorological satellite data. Ethiopian scientists, trained by visiting Chinese colleagues, now operate it themselves to issue real-time alerts for droughts and flash floods. This has profound significance for a country on the front line of a climate crisis it did nothing to create: accurate early warning of drought and flooding is the difference between a managed emergency and a humanitarian catastrophe.
Ethiopia is the first country in Africa to receive the system, and the institute’s deputy director general says it intends to become a regional knowledge hub, sharing its expertise with meteorological services across the continent – technology transferred, then transferred onward, on African terms.
Ethiopia also became one of the 29 founding members of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (WAICO) in Shanghai on 16 July, a body whose stated purpose is to ensure that AI development is “beneficial, safe, and fair”.
ADDIS ABABA, July 26 (Xinhua) — Cooperation with China in emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), is fostering Ethiopia’s institutional and workforce capabilities, enabling the rapid adoption of advanced technologies across the country’s critical development sectors, senior officials and experts have said.
These critical development sectors include meteorology as well as the space science and geospatial sector, areas where the two countries have forged strong collaborative frameworks and initiatives in recent years.
Sino-Ethiopian cooperation in the meteorological domain is empowering local experts to deploy cutting-edge technological models, including AI and machine learning algorithms. Officials at the Ethiopian Meteorological Institute (EMI) underscored that cooperation with Chinese partners is injecting a much-needed impetus to enhance the institute’s capabilities in ensuring data accuracy and providing refined climate information for various socioeconomic sectors.
Recognizing the demands of the modern technological era, EMI’s deputy director general Asaminew Teshome emphasized that deploying innovative technological systems has become essential to significantly enhance the accuracy and reliability of contemporary meteorological information.
“We are closely working with the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) in different aspects, focusing on weather and the climate services,” Teshome told Xinhua in a recent interview.
To bridge technical gaps, Ethiopian meteorological professionals have received short- and long-term academic training from Chinese partners, including the CMA. These joint capacity-building initiatives focus on satellite data analysis, climate forecasting models, atmospheric research, and modern disaster risk management platforms tailored to local requirements.
“Most of the institute’s experts are trained in different Chinese institutions, including the China Meteorological Administration, from short-term to long-term capacity building,” Teshome said, emphasizing that human resource development forms a key pillar of the two countries’ bilateral partnership.
By leveraging AI, machine learning and complex data analytics, the two sides seek to generate highly downscaled and localized weather data and climate information models.
A central milestone in this collaboration is the deployment of the advanced MAZU early warning system. MAZU (Multi-hazard, Alert, Zero-gap, and Universal), China’s intelligent meteorological early warning solution, is an advanced platform capable of providing tailored services to specific application scenarios. It also integrates state-of-the-art AI and physical forecasting models with monitoring technologies, such as meteorological satellites, to deliver more precise weather forecasts, according to the CMA.
With targeted training and capacity-building support provided by visiting Chinese scientists, Ethiopian meteorological professionals are now capable of operating the system to issue real-time alerts against weather hazards like droughts and flash floods.
Highlighting that receiving the MAZU platform makes the EMI a pioneer in Africa, Teshome emphasized the institute’s ambitions to serve as a regional knowledge hub by sharing its hands-on experience and technical capabilities with other African meteorological service centers, amplifying the continental benefits of Sino-Ethiopian technological collaboration and joint capacity-building initiatives.
Beyond bilateral frameworks, Ethiopia and China are also fostering multilateral cooperation in emerging technologies.
The latest manifestation came on July 16, when Ethiopia signed the agreement establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) in Shanghai, China, making it one of the 29 founding members of the organization. United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was among the representatives from various countries and international organizations present at the signing ceremony.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology lauded the country’s participation in the WAICO as a reflection of the country’s growing commitment to AI, digital transformation, and international technology cooperation. It highlighted the significance of the WAICO’s primary objective, as the organization aims to promote international cooperation and global governance on AI, ensuring that it is beneficial, safe, and fair.
According to the agreement, the Shanghai-headquartered independent intergovernmental international organization will uphold the purposes of the UN Charter, be committed to extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit, and adhere to a people-centered approach.
