Ethiopia Welcomes, Invites Fellow Africans to Invest in Land of Origins & Opportunity: CEO

Addis Ababa February 15/2023/ENA/ Ethiopia, which is the home of the African Union, invites fellow African brothers and sisters to invest in the their second home, Land Bank and Development Corporation CEO Lensa Mekonnen said.

The Chief Executive Officer told ENA that brothers and sisters coming to attend the African Union session over the next couple of days are welcome to the Land of Origins and opportunity.

Recall that the 42th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union kicked off at the African Union Headquarters in the presence of Foreign Minister of members states in Addis Ababa today.

“Doors are open for them to explore the potentials, meet and discuss with various stakeholders within the government and the private sector as well,” she said.

According to her, the reform within the government and the larger ecosystem of the economy has showed all of the untapped potential in various sectors.

“We want our brothers and sisters coming to the African Union Summit to really explore, understand and look into investment potentials in addition to all investors, financiers, and developers across the globe,” Lensa pointed out.

With the reform, the CEO said one of the key approaches the government has taken is identifying multi-sectoral development potentials, investment potentials, and 10-year strategic or perspective plan.

Among the sectors given priority are housing and health, she added.

The hospitality sector, she noted is what “we have been spoking for decades and much has not been done to tap the resources.”

Listing the entire natural, cultural, man made and nature resources that the country has, Lensa stated that the hospitality sector is very much within the range of clear economic reform and priority.

The other sector the CEO mentioned among the investment potential areas is education. It has been a contentious agenda for the past years, she said, adding that “reforming our education system and investing in our education system is another priority.”

For Lensa, the ICT Sector is both enabler and core investment area.

In connection with regulation and policy reforms, she pointed out that “our reform, in terms of regulations policy and the likes, has also been completed with institutional building and institutional set ups like the Ethiopian Investment Holding, Ethiopian Investment Commission, the Capital Market Authority and the likes”

She stressed that a lot of effort has been exerted in attracting foreign direct investment from the African continent rather that other continents.

“So, we need to shift our eyes and look into the African continent as well, and we really need to communicate with our African brothers and sisters at really heartfelt level and saying that we need to really find economic solution for Africa through the African eye.”

Regarding the partnership within stakeholders, the CEO said “what we are trying to do is make sure everything is aligned. In that process, we strengthen our private sector as well.”