Joint Forum discusses FDI bottlenecks in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, January 5, 2021 (FBC) -The joint forum established to tackle challenges of attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Ethiopia has held its regular meeting today.

The meeting was chaired by Demeke Mekonnen, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia and Ambassador Girma Biru, macroeconomic advisor to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The meeting deliberated the types of problems investors are facing in the country today and measures taken to alleviate the observed hurdles.

On the occasion, Lelise Neme, Commissioner of Ethiopian Investment Commission, has tabled a paper reflecting on monitoring mechanisms of the post-investment performance of the foreign investors in the country.

The Commissioner also spoke in detail on the performance and suitability of Ethiopia’s business environment in maintaining and expanding the ongoing investments as well as creating business linkages for foreign investors

Lelise’s presentation showed that lack of coordination among institutions, bureaucratic bottlenecks, poor understanding of investment guidelines by investors coupled with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are observed as bottlenecks for a smooth flow of FDI in the country.

The meeting underscored the importance of working in concert among institutions and charted out the way forward with tasks that stakeholders should carry out.

Ministers and high-level officials as well as representatives of relevant stakeholders attended the meeting, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.