Addis Ababa, May 11, 2022(Walta) – Ethiopia has attracted 2.43 billion USD worth of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the past nine months, according to the Ethiopian Investment Commission.
Investment Commissioner Lelise Neme said the country has attracted the stated FDI from 118 investors from different countries including China, France, the U.S., Israel, and Italy.
“We planned to attract 3.63 billion USD FDI. We achieved 2.43 billion USD. Although this performance is 67 percent of the target, it has shown an 18.8 percent increase when compared to the same period last year,” Lelise said.
Out of the total investments attracted, 65 engages in manufacturing, 50 in services, and 3 in agriculture, she added.
The commissioner stated that the new foreign investors have created 57,451 jobs, of which about 45,000 are women.
The country has also earned 156.7 million USD from the export of products obtained from the industrial parks against the 223 million USD, Lelise pointed out.
The nine-month performance is encouraging amid internal and external challenges against the investments, the commissioner explained, pointing out that the commission is working towards solving investment challenges in the country in many ways.
Challenges that could have affected the investment performance include security issues in some parts of the country and foreign currency shortage, suspension from AGOA, COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it was indicated.
Nonetheless, Ethiopia is a promising country for investment with its enormous resource potential in many sectors, including solar and geothermal energies, industry, services, and agriculture, the commissioner explained.