Home-Grown Economic Reform Exemplary for Other African Countries: ECA Acting Secretary

Addis Ababa March 31/2023(ENA) Ethiopia's Home-Grown Economic Reform could serve as an example for other African countries, and we are creating a platform for sharing these experiences among African countries, ECA Acting Executive Secretary Antonio Pedro said.

The Home-Grown Economic Reform is aimed at transforming Ethiopia from a largely agrarian low-income country to an industrialized lower-middle-income country by 2030.

The Acting Executive Secretary, Antonio Pedro told the Ethiopian news Agency that these experiences are very important to improve the capacity of all of Africa to respond to crises, and  move forward with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) enhancing the process of economic transformation of the continent.

Pedro stated that Ethiopia is successfully pursuing the reform "which we are confident that the government will be able to implement despite the challenges the whole of Africa has been facing due to the crisis."

He also revealed that the commission has been working with the Ministry of Finance in areas like reforming the country's tax system, modernizing and expanding tax base.

Ethiopia is among the countries that are undertaking reforms of the tax systems to increase the tax base and accelerate development, Pedro added.

"So, today Ethiopia is among the countries that are undertaking tax reforms to increase the tax base and accelerate development."

The acting executive secretary further stressed that ECA also collaborates with the government of Ethiopia in areas that could lead to make the country a great power in agribusiness.

Equipping the country with important infrastructure and industrial parks will also contribute to the economic development of the nation that moves fast, he added.

Finance Minister, Ahmed Shide on his part had told ENA that inflation is affecting the country's economy despite the resilience and growth witnessed in the country over the past few challenging years due to the war in the northern part of the nation and the Russia-Ukraine war.

 

In order to solve these and other problems, the minister said the government will continue to implement the Second Home-Grown Economic Reform and facilitate reconstruction efforts, narrow macro-economic gaps, and increase private sector participation in the economy.

The First Home-Grown Economic Reform introduced in 2018 has proved effective to deter internal and external economic challenges.

Therefore, the government is working on an additional economic reform plan that will help to control inflation, improve foreign currency availability and administration, enhance domestic resources mobilization, and increase local and foreign investment.