Ethiopia attracted $3 billion in foreign direct investment in the first 10 months of the current Ethiopian Fiscal Year 2023/2024, which started July 8, 2023.

Hanna Arayaselassie, chief commissioner of the Ethiopian Investment Commission, said the commission planned to attract $3.5 billion in FDI in the current fiscal year, ending on July 7, 2024.

“The figure is a bit short of the FDI inflow target set for the first 10 months of the Fiscal Year 2023/2024, but exceeded that of the same period 2023,” said the commissioner.

Ms Arayaselassie said although sizable investments have come from other parts of the world, China has been the top source of foreign direct investment in Ethiopia, adding that “China’s investment is accounting for almost 50 per cent of all FDI inflow into the country.”

She said the government has expanded many infrastructure projects, including roads and industrial parks’ development, to attract more FDI into the East African country.

“The industrial parks constitute very important infrastructure facilities, enabling both foreign and domestic investors to start operation quickly,” Ms Arayaselassie added.

In recent years, Ethiopia has built and commissioned a number of industrial parks as part of a broad strategy to make the country a light manufacturing hub in Africa by 2025.

“We have five well-established industrial parks and the government-owned Industrial Parks Development Corporation,” Ms Arayaselassie explained. “The commission is working closely with private industrial park developers to build more industrial parks.”

Ms Arayaselassie added that the commission has been working to offer a one-stop service where investors can get all the licenses and permits they need to operate in the country.

(Xinhua/NAN)