The Ethiopian government on Wednesday launched a national initiative that aimed to improve the investment climate by spurring opportunities for foreign businesses.
A view of streets and high rise apartment buildings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The national investment plan mainly identified over 80 distinct actions that would be delivered across operations provided in 10 government agencies.
“The reform measures will be monitored by the Policy and Performance Unit of the PM’s office and coordinated by the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC),” the office of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a statement on Wednesday.
The national initiative, which aimed at improving the East African country’s investment climate, was launched by Prime Minister Ahmed, who noted Ethiopia’s current investment climate as underperforming.
According to Ahmed, the newly launched initiative is an integral part of Ethiopia’s Action Plan for Jobs.
The initiative “will make Ethiopia a competitive place to start and grow businesses,” Ahmed was quoted as saying by his office.
“Ethiopia needs job-creating economic growth. Successful businesses and entrepreneurs drive jobs growth,” he added.
The premier also stressed that his government has “an essential role in identifying and addressing constraints that prevent the private sector from growing and generating jobs.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), as part of its economic outlook for Africa that was published in Oct. this year, forecasted that Ethiopia will host Africa’s fastest growing economy in 2019, as the country’s economy is projected to grow at 8.5 percent during the current Ethiopian fiscal year, which will end on July 7, 2019.
The Ethiopian government has a plan to set up 15 industrial parks across the country, of which six of the industrial parks have been officially put into use over the past few years, attracting a large number of transnational companies from China, India, South Korea, as well as those from other parts of the globe.
Industrial parks construction is part of the Ethiopian government’s ambitious plan that will see the country become the manufacturing hub of Africa with a middle-income economy by the year 2025.