Ethiopia is no longer a closed shop but inviting foreign investors to chat
Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most-populous country and the continent’s fastest growing economy, is inviting big business to cash in. For so long a closed shop, on Tuesday, the Horn of Africa nation invited foreign investors to buy stakes in state-owned telecoms, shipping, power-generation and aviation companies, a rare opportunity to access such a large market. The bonanza will extend to railways, sugar mills and industrial parks, with the top brass of the ruling party embarking on long-awaited market reforms. The move continues a breakneck push led by new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who took office two months ago. As well as green-lighting the liberalisation of state companies, he’s taken steps to reduce the role of the military in the economy, agreed to the terms of a long-disputed peace deal with neighbouring Eritrea, and lifted a state of emergency that followed the snap resignation of his predecessor, Hailemariam Desalegn. "Ethiopia’s market size speaks for itself," Jacques Nel, an...
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