Ethiopia Attracts $3.9 billion FDI in 2020/21 Fiscal Year

ADDIS ABABA – Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow into Ethiopia reached 3.9 billion US dollars in the recently concluded 2020/21 fiscal year, says country’s investment commission.

The amount, recorded in the FY which ended on July 7, has shown nearly a billion jump as compared to the figure the East African nation attracted in the previous year.

The Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) said the encouraging performance in attracting the FDI, amid the security and Covid-19 pandemic induced challenges, could be attributed to several reasons.

“The sale of the first private telecom license, however, has been the main factor,” said Henok Solomon, Communication Director of the EIC.

A Global Partnership for Ethiopia, a consortium of telecom companies, won a telecom service licence offering a $850 million bid.

‘Invests Keen on Agro-processing’

Apart from the license sale, Henok said the commission’s “intensive campaign to promote investment prospects  of Ethiopia has also played a key part in” recording the second highest FDI figure Ethiopia attracted in past five years.

“This has particularly paid dividends in bringing more businesses to invest in agro-processing sector,” the communication director said.

At least 19 foreign businesses invested in the newly inaugurated Yirgalem Integrated Agro-Industrial Park last year alone. The park is among the three Agro-industrial Parks launched in the 2020/21 Fiscal year.

The investments in these parks will not only boost the export volume but also the import substitute push of the country, Henok said.

Officials of the EIC are currently ramping up their efforts of promoting the investment prospects in Ethiopia to the world to drive more FDI into the country, which plans to attract about five billion USD in the the ongoing 2021/22 budget year.

The amount seem within a reaching distance as the government pushes ahead with its two major plans to liberalize the telecommunication sector this year – selling a 40 percent stake in the state-controlled telecom firm, Ethio Telecom, and a second telecom operator licence to foreign companies.

 

 

Featured Image: Integrated Agro-Industrial Parks (IAIPs) have become magnates to attract foreign investors to Ethiopia [Photo File]