The Ethiopian Investment Commission plans to host the Invest Ethiopia 2023 forum under the theme, “Invest and Grow in Ethiopia – The Land of Attractive Investment Opportunities.”
ADDIS ABABA (The Ethiopian Herald) – It is an incontestable truth that building a strong economy for a nation is one of the major steps towards overall development and security. Having a better economy creates opportunities for both the government and the people of a country to lead better lives. It is obvious that the world witnesses how those countries with better economic standards manage their lives and how easy life can be. In countries with meager economic power, on the contrary, creating a favorable environment is costly, making the government and the people cry out to tackle and escape from those challenges. In many scenarios, nations have opened their doors to different opportunities, with attracting investors being an example. As a result, when investment increases, it is true that other doors will also open.
Some of the main reasons why nations build a favorable atmosphere for investment are to create job opportunities for their amassed citizenry, attract foreign direct investment, and generate better foreign currency income for the country. In the case of Ethiopia, the current incumbent has been working on creating the expected environments that meet international standards and have the capacity to lure investors from inside and abroad. In the past few years, following the implementation of political reform in the country, the Government of Ethiopia has taken decisive and deep-rooted measures to build and develop various investment sites, including industrial parks, to achieve the desired objectives. On top of creating ideal places that suit investors, it is also one of the strategies to promote investment by organizing multiple events and forums with the vision to gather interested local and foreign investors and sell what a nation can offer and the incentives it provides.
Understanding the outcome of promoting investment, the Ethiopian government established the Ethiopian Investment Commission and has been working on increasing the investment inflow of the country. That was the reason behind hosting investment forums at different times. The nation has also taken steps to promote itself to the international community, and companies with a good appetite began to invest in the country. The Ethiopian Investment Commission plans to host the Invest Ethiopia 2023 forum under the theme, “Invest and Grow in Ethiopia – The Land of Attractive Investment Opportunities.” The forum will be held from April 26 to 28 at the Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The forum will be sponsored by the Ethiopian most profitable and prominent companies, namely the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and Ethio-Telecom. In addition, Ethiopian Airlines will also serve as the official travel partner for the forum.
According to the commission’s press release, the investment forum has the potential to bring investors, business leaders, policymakers, and entrepreneurs across the world to explore and unlock the untapped investment opportunities that the nation is blessed with. Delivering the press release and briefing journalists, Investment Deputy Commissioner Temesgen Tilahun said that the Ethiopian Investment Commission has been working closely with stakeholders, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic missions around the world, to host the Invest Ethiopia 2023 Forum. The prior aim of the event is to promote the nation’s untapped investment potentials, and to increase the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow into the country.
The deputy commissioner stated that Ethiopia is one of the top African countries that attract more foreign direct investment. Apart from action taken by the responsible stakeholders on promoting the nation’s investment opportunities, there are also investors who initiated by themselves and started investing in the country. It has been a while since the commission took the responsibility to promote investment. In the past three years, the global COVID-19 pandemic and internal unrest made it hard to achieve the objectives that the commission set to accomplish. In the present climate, the aforementioned challenges have become stable, and the peace and security issues of the country are getting back to normal, even though the Russia-Ukraine war is still in progress. With all the odds, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow around the world has shown better progress.
In the present climate, the aforementioned challenges have become stable, and the peace and security issues of the country are becoming normal and stable, even though the Russia-Ukraine war is still ongoing. With all the odds, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow around the world has shown better progress. In this regard, countries including Ethiopia are working to increase their investment activities. Temesgen noted that a new investment policy will be introduced, which will open attractive opportunities to the private sector. The commission has not presented the advantages that the new policy provides to investors, and this is the time to unveil it. In addition, changes in the commercial code with the national homegrown economy and the recently introduced free trade zone policy are notable changes that will be introduced in the forum. The previously introduced changes in the ease of doing business will also be presented.
The deputy commissioner further pointed out that the commission has reformed over 80 bureaucratic procedures, which have been serious factors in facilitating investment in the country for many years. Moreover, digitalization and online service deliveries will be used as inputs, though they are not enough. The newly opened telecom and finance sectors will also get the chance to be disclosed to investors in the forum. During the forum, over 50 government officials from all corners will attend, and it is a useful platform to carry out fruitful discussions with a view to identifying the challenges and devising relevant solutions to potential problems. There are selected economic growth pillars, namely agriculture, agro-processing, manufacturing, mining, tourism, and information and communication technology (ICT) sectors, which will be presented at the forum.
“More than 50 high-level government officials will be attending the forum to deliver speeches and participate in different panel discussions to provide a live response to investors’ queries. Representatives from the International Investment Promotion Association will deliver keynote speeches and presentations, and well-known business CEOs will also share their experiences at the forum. All in all, we are expecting over 600 investors to participate,” Temesgen added.
So far, 500 investors have registered through the online platform. There will be 25 exhibitions held across the country, six side events, and ten keynote speeches presented. Three high-level panel discussions, as well as business-to-business and business-to-government meetings, will be conducted during the forum. The commission expects that the forum will be a foundational platform to generate over three billion USD in the coming two years. In addition, initial soft deals and confirmations worth 500 million USD FDI are expected. Besides, ten Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) with major international organizations will also be signed. In line with this, previous deals in the pipeline will be finalized, and more than 20 media institutions are expected to provide media coverage.
He further stated that Ethiopia has enormous investment potentials. The nation is home to young populations, and with a dynamic and rapidly growing population, it possesses a strategic geopolitical location in Africa and the Middle East. Investors are expected to invest in this great nation to bring significant change on both sides.
Source: Ethiopian Press Agency