Ethiopia’s ruling party has announced plans to sell a section of the country’s companies, including Ethiopian Airlines and Ethio Telecom, that are majorly owned by the government.
According to a statement by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the country’s ruling party, the government will continue to hold the largest stake in these companies while the “rest of the shares will be offered to domestic and foreign investors.”
The ruling party’s statement also said factories, industrial parks, and railways could be completely privatised.
Encouraging External Investment
The ruling party posted on Facebook that the new policy will “enable Ethiopian-born citizens living abroad who have long wished to work on the development of their country and enable foreigners who have the knowledge and foreign currency to play a positive role in our growth.”
The announcement comes under the leadership of the new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and in an atmosphere of disquiet that reduced foreign exchange will negatively affect the country’s economic growth which is largely out of reach by external investors.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that Ethiopia’s economy will grow by 8.5 per cent this year compared to 10.9 per cent in 2017.
