The 3rd Ethiopia-Canada Business and Investment Forum was held on Tuesday (December 11) in Toronto, Canada, co-organized by the Embassy of Ethiopia in Ottawa, WAFA Marketing and Promotion and MineAfrica. The official delegations were led by Ethiopia’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. AkliluHailemichael, and Canada’s delegation by Mr. Jean-Philippe Linteau, Director of Clean Technology, Infrastructure, Climate Finance and Life Sciences, of Global Affairs. Representatives from more than 80 Canadian companies attended.
Dr. Aklilu in a keynote speech underlining the all-round bilateral cooperation between Ethiopia and Canada and the investment opportunities and incentives that Ethiopia offered to foreign investors, urged Canadian companies to seize the opportunities available. He assured forum participants that the Government was committed to welcome and provide every support to investors. Mr. Linteau expressed the readiness of the Government of Canada to enhance the business relations between Canada and Ethiopia and assist Canadian companies interested to invest in Ethiopia. He emphasized the current political developments in Ethiopia and said the Canadian government fully supported these. Noting the recent bilateral consultations between the two countries and their agreement on the need to improve trade and investment by encouraging the private sector, he referred to a recent telephone conversation between the two Prime Ministers in which they promised to meet each other in the near future. He emphasized the Canadian government is in full support of the changes taking place in the country. He called on Canadian companies to explore the Trade and Investment opportunities in Ethiopia.
There were presentations of the investment opportunities available in Ethiopia and Zemedeneh Nigatu, Global Chairman of Fairfax Africa Fund, LLC, listed ten reasons for investing in Ethiopia: the growing economy, the demographic advantage of a large and youthful population, rapid urbanization, the growing manufacturing, infrastructure, huge untapped resources, agriculture, tourism, its strategic location and the trade advantages though COMESA, the EU and other bodies. A risk profile of Ethiopia categorized risks under five headings; political and security, foreign currency, financial, supply chain and evolving policy. It recommended potential investors to visit Ethiopia, develop contacts, engage in partnerships, joint ventures and utilize the services provided by the Canadian Trade Commission. It called on the Canadian Government to be more active in supporting Canadian investors in Ethiopia. A case study of Kefi Minerals’ Tulu Kapi Gold Project, described as a showcase of Canadian s investment in Ethiopia and expected to start production by 2020, was presented.
The presentations were followed by a Panel Discussion chaired by Dr. Aklilu Hailemichael, at which questions raised included problems related to foreign currency shortages and possible solutions, institution building, Ethiopia’s relations with Briton Wood Institutions, urban housing, technology transfer, support for small and medium size companies, and drivers to attract Canadian companies to infrastructure investment. Following the panel discussion, extensive business-to-business and business-to-government discussions and networking took place.
