ADDIS ABABA – Ministry of Trade stated that various tasks designed to bypass barriers when starting a business, and improve ease of doing business in the country, are being undertaken.
The Ministry is hoping the works already underway to reduce the number of procedures, time and cost to start up a company and formally operate in the country’s economy will entice entrepreneurs into entering the formal economy.
Talking to The Ethiopian Herald, Wondemu Filate, Communications Director with the Ministry, said that as part of the effort to improve the ease of doing business in the country, the Ministry has been carrying out works to shorten and simplify the process to start business, which used to be arduous, backward with weak monitoring system. This will encourage businesspeople to start up businesses rather being thrown off by the arduous process, he added.
Also, Ethiopia made other efforts to make starting business easier, including revising the standard classification of economic activities (industrial classification), where the number of business activities was reduced from 1,352 to 519. In the same vein, the number of business activities that need professional competence certificates was reduced to 303, and certificate giving institutions to 37. All this is expected to make the service delivery short, fast and convenient, helping entice businessmen and potential investors into business in the process, he explained.
In addition to this, the authorities have been making moves to establish one-stop service stations to deliver various services during business registration from one location. The Ministry has also decentralized some of its tasks to the regional states in a bid to avoid creating backlog of service and customer dissatisfaction at the federal level, while it is possible to make the service more free flowing and quick to customers by delegating some of them.
Furthermore, the Director also stated that the Ministry is planning to increase its focus on supporting local businesspeople, especially those involved in the agro-processing sector. “We need to create conducive investment environment for the local investors, so that our exports will be more than inputs for foreign end products that we buy for expensive price.”
Generally speaking, he continued, in terms of improving the country’s ease of doing business, the short term plan in the Ministry’s part is to deliver fast and convenient service to the business community, which is expected to translate into them being more productive in whatever line of business they are involved in. “This means that the importer will produce more goods, which will boost import-substitution, and also encourage the exporters to produce more and bring in foreign currency.”
In terms of giving Ethiopia the edge, the country is entering the continental free trade, while it will also be member of WTO in the future, which will increase the chance for foreign investors to come here and invest. So, improving the ease of doing business here will not only entice foreign investment (compared to other countries in similar economic situation), but also help create a cooperative competition between local investors.
“Basically, improving ease of doing business is not all about riding obstacles, and making starting business easier, but also about delivering transparent and inclusive service to customers, and creating professionals that would use the opportunity for the good of his own and his/her country.” It needs for those delivering the service, and those on the receiving end to collaborate, which makes it possible to transform the country’s economy, he concluded.
The Ethiopian Herald April 16, 2019
BY ROBEL YOHANNES
