Deputy PM Demeke Heads to London for UK-Africa Investment Summit

ADDIS ABABA – Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen is in London to attend UK-Africa Investment Summit, according to his office.

The UK government is expected to unveil a new strategy for development in Africa later today, which will focus more on infrastructure and trade.

Apart from Ethiopia’s Deputy prime minister, dozen more African leaders are in London for a summit aimed at boosting the UK’s private sector investment on the continent.

Reports say this is a major shift in the UK’s relationship with Africa.

The Department for International Development says it is now focusing on digital technologies, green energy and women entrepreneurs, says BBC report.

UK businesses are also exepected to play a big role as they have already signed deals worth more than 7.8 billion US dollars, with more expected during the summit.

“We want to unlock new flows of UK investment, for example tapping into UK appetite for impact investment,” UK Africa Investment Summit Envoy Philip Parham said ahead of the meeting.

“We want to increase both the quantity and the quality of UK investment, and for the UK to be the investment partner of choice for African nations,” said Parham, who visited Ethiopia last month to explain the breadth and depth of the UK’s offer.

With many of the fastest-growing economies and a rapidly expanding population, Africa is seen as an attractive market for long-term investors.

Africa has a rapidly growing population with one in four of the world’s population expected to come from the continent by the middle of the century.

Meanwhile, the deputy primer’s office said, after London, Demeke will head to Davos to attend the international economic summit on Tuesday.