Ethiopia Attracts 3 Billion USD FDI in Fiscal Year

July 06, 2022 (ENA) Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Ethiopia has shown improvement after a brief decline due to COVID-19 and security concerns, according to Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC).

Ethiopia attracted three billion USD in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the just ended Ethiopian fiscal year.

EIC Foreign Direct Investment and Promotion Director, Aschalew Tadesse said the plan was to attract 3.6 billion USD.

China, India, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates are the top countries that invested in Ethiopia.

According to the director, 62 of the companies are from China, 14 from Europe, and 13 from various African countries, including Sudan, South Africa, and Morocco.

Some 163 of the companies have already paid commitment fees of between 150,000 and  200,000 USD, it was learned.

Commitment fee is 200,000 USD for foreign companies and 150,000 for a joint venture company.

Data show that in the first nine months of the fiscal year 57,451 citizens have benefited from the investment projects.

Investment flow has been affected worldwide due to COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

On top of that, the security situation in Ethiopia, coupled with the delisting of the country from AGOA made FDI to Ethiopia fall behind the planned 3.6 billion USD, Aschalew stated.

"Even though there were limitations, such as COVID-19 restrictions and security concerns, a number of promotion works have been undertaken both in and outside of the country. We are still working hard to attract new investors."

The director revealed that reforms have been made in various sectors in a bid to improve the investment climate.

Wide-ranging incentive packages for priority sectors and export-oriented investments were introduced in the course of the year.