Next week Addis Ababa will host the first ever international conference on business and finance.
The conference will gather various local and international companies. During the conference, trade and finance performances would be evaluated, assessed and reviewed to get inputs for future policy.
Moreover, causes for continental low level trade integration and its solutions would be assessed. African Union, African Economic Commission, Development Bank of Africa, ECOWAS, SADC and Africa Trade and Development Bank would attend the conference.
International, continental and regional higher education and private sector institutions leaders will present their thoughts. And various African scholars will share and present their experiences related to trade and finance.
Hospitality is a core value in the culture of Ethiopian people. Coupled with the peoples long ingrained welcoming culture the country’s performance in attracting foreign direct investment is also contributing to welcome more foreigners here. Ethiopia has attracted more than 3.2 billion USD FDI in 2018 ranking on leading position in Sub Saharan Africa and among the top in the world. As a result it has secured a large sum of funding from World Bank in the form of grant and credit which is a record high volume of financing which Ethiopia and even many African countries have ever secured at a time.
This is a good sign that Ethiopia is undergoing a very smooth and sound process of transforming its political and economic environment to make it more conducive for foreign companies who opt to engage in business in the country. In response to the growing acceptance the country is getting from such international economic partners the government is also taking various encouraging action to make the country more suitable, simple and worthwhile for all those who choose to invest here. One of measures is the national initiative that aimed to improve the investment climate by inspiring opportunities for foreign businesses.
The initiative has mainly identified over 80 distinct actions that would be delivered across operations provided in 10 government agencies. The initiative is believed to make Ethiopia more competitive to start and grow businesses.
It is also likely to improve the country’s status in the World Bank’s annual ranking of Ease of Doing Business, which the country repeatedly scores very low. Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) has also launched an electronic investment Guide, iGuide, to speed up the flow of investment especially from abroad to the country.
The information platform is likely to reduce unfavorable conditions that were seen in the past. The government has also launched visa free entry to the country for citizens of African countries that are member state of African Union. This has benefitted thousands of Africans who aspire to visit the country.
The government has taken various commendable actions to make the country as well as the service delivery of the government more responsive to the needs of citizens as well as visitors. Altogether, these actions would hopefully make the country a more hospitable and enjoyable country.
Herald January 12/2019
