Austrian delegation impressed by pace, reformed investment climate in Ethiopia 

Addis Ababa, November 2, 2024 (FBC) – The pace and ambition of the economic reform taking place is very impressive to penetrate investment opportunities in Ethiopia, Elisabeth Hirschbichler who led an Austrian business delegation to Ethiopia said.

Austria-Ethiopia Business Forum was held in Addis Ababa last week aimed at bolstering the economic ties of the two countries.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Hirschbichler who is also an advocate for female entrepreneurship said that “I am very excited about the business opportunities in Ethiopia.”

Citing her experience 10 years ago in Ethiopia, she has been much impressed by the endowment and the potential of the country.

The delegation head elaborated that there are a lot of dynamics of additional energy around the private sector for investors.

Ethiopia has undertaken significant economic reforms to open up the economy, including the liberalization of the telecom sector, opening up of the financial sector, the liberalization of trade and the logistics sector, among others for foreign investors.

“The pace and also the ambition with which the economic reform taking place in Ethiopia is frankly very impressive,” Hirschbichler underscored.

Stating that she spent 10 days in Addis and other parts of the country, she said the energy around encouraging the private sector and also all the initiatives that have been carried out in the public sector is fantastic.

“If you look at the financial reforms, I believe that will also give more confidence to foreign investors.”

There are frankly fantastic opportunities, she said, adding that now is the time really to look at Ethiopia much more closely.

Ethiopia’s economic reform is opening up to investors from around the world that would give them the reliability of the business climate in the country, Austria’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Simone Knapp told local news agency ENA recently.

Ethiopia is a big country not only in size but also with its potentials in various sectors, the ambassador affirmed.

Over the past six years, various sectors and sub-sectors have been opened up for domestic and foreign investment to make Ethiopia a business friendly nation alongside implementing plenty of legal and administrative reforms during the stated period.