The EU-Ethiopia business forum took place in Brussels, attracting some 200 high-level investors from EU,  top officials from Ethiopian government as well as the EU Commission. Opening remark as well as presentations were made by Mr. Stefano Manservisi, Director-General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO) of the European Commission , HE Dr. Markos Tekle, State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Abebe Abebayehu, Commissioner of Ethiopian Investment Commission as well as Ms. Eleni Kyrou, Head of the European Investment Bank representative to Ethiopia and the African Union. The goal of the forum was to provide important and practical information to potential investors who are interested in doing business in Ethiopia.As part of the forum, the EU Business Forum (EUBFE) through its board chairman Mr. Ben Depraetere, moderated a panel discussion entitled “Doing Business in Ethiopia”. The panel was composed of three notable guests;  Mr. Thomas Schaefer, Chairman and Managing Director of Volkswagen Group South Africa,  Mr. Dougie Brew, Corporate Affairs and Sustainable Business Director Africa of Unilever and Mr. Melaku Ezezew, President of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sector Associations.

Breakout sessions on agro-processing, textile and apparel, ICT as well as Pharma sector took place in the afternoon following the opening remarks and panel discussion, where a number of EU companies shared their experiences of investing in these sectors in Ethiopia.

The frorum also featured a company visit. A delegation that included the EIC commissioner, EUBFE executive director, guests of the forum, representative from the EU commission as well as diplomats from the Ethiopian embassy in Brussels attended a half day visit to Desmet Engineers  & Contractors (DSEC)  based in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

At the end of the forum, closing remark was delivered by Mr. Jyrki Katainen, Vice-President of the European Commission and responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, in which he pointed out to policy conviction of the commission in promoting investmentin third countries via various instruments including the external investment plan.

The last day of the EU-Ethiopia Business Forum was dedicated to a morning-long networking and B2B session, where EUBFE was able to confer with a number of EU companies who showed interest to invest in Ethiopia.

The Ministry of Revenue, represented by State Minister Mr. Mohammed Abdi, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with EU Business Forum and its member national business associations on May 2, 2019. The MoU is aimed at forging constructive dialogue between the Ministry of Revenue (MoR), as well as the Customs Commission (which is under the MoR), and members of EUBFE.  In his key note address, H.E. Mr. Mohammed welcomed the initiative to construct meaningful dialogue with EU businesses and encouraged those involved to work towards its fruition.

In this connection, a joint steering committee has been established that would compile, review and address challenges of members of EUBFE in connection with tax and customs. The committee will be led by the Head of the Office of the Minister of Revenue and will be composed of directors of various directorates of MoR and board members of EUBFE. The steering committee will commence its task within two weeks’ time of the signing of MoU.

The General Assembly meeting that preceded the signing of MoU approved annual report for 2018, audit report of external auditor, plan for 2019 and extended the appointment of the existing board members by a further two years. The event was attended by various guests from government as well as EU diplomatic community.

The EU-Ethiopia Business Forum 2019 will take place in Brussels on Tuesday, May 14th and Wednesday, May 15th2019.  The objective of this Forum is to promote and stimulate European private sector trade and investment in Ethiopia through the organization of a Business Forum aimed at advertising the potential opportunities in the country and at offering a networking platform for European and Ethiopian companies as well as Ethiopian government representatives.

During this high-level business Forum participants will gain practical information about doing business in Ethiopia and be able to interact with top-officials from the Ethiopian Investment Commission and with other high-ranking officials from Ethiopia. Mr. Jyrki Katainen, vice-president of the European Commission and Commissioner for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, will also take part in the event.

Please follow the link below to participate.

https://en.xing-events.com/eu_ethiopia_businessforum.html?page=1699742

EUBFE and EUD welcomed delegates of the Eastern Africa Association (EAA) at a networking event held on October 25, 2018 at the premises of EUBFE member company MOSS-ICT, the pioneer of mobile money service technology, M-Birr, in Ethiopia . The event was attended by more than 40 guests from government, diplomatic and businesses communities. HE Ambassador Johan Borgstam, head of EU Delegation in Ethiopia, opened the thematic event. After welcoming delegates of EAA, invited diplomats and members of EUBFE, he invited EUBFE Chairman Mr. Ben Depraetere to make an opening statement. Mr. Ben, in his address, highlighted the major activities and achievements of EUBFE and invited delegates to engage with members and management of EUBFE to learn more. Mr. John Small, CEO of EAA took up the stage subsequently. In his brief address he thanked the EU Delegation as well as the EUBFE for hosting EAA’s delegates. He reiterated that over the course of their stay, they have learnt a great deal on investment opportunities in Ethiopia. Events such as this networking event hosted by EUBFE and EUD, will further help in cementing the delegates understanding of the Ethiopian business climate from EU businesses already operating in Ethiopia. Following the opening remarks the thematic networking continued over cocktail reception.

 

EUBFE was honored with the presence of HE Dr. Belachew Mekuria, Commissioner-Ethiopian Investment Commission and Ambassador Johan Borgstam, Head-EU Delegation for Ethiopia on its thematic networking event held on July 13, 2018. The event was co-hosted by the Ethiopia-Netherlands Business Association (ENLBA), a national member association of EUBFE. It drew significant participants from the business as well as the diplomatic community.

Ambassador Johan started off by congratulating Dr. Belachew on his appointment to lead the Ethiopian Investment Commission. He also reiterated on the positive changes the country is going through, with more conducive business environment on the horizon. He also congratulated the successes EUBFE has continued to achieve and encouraged continuous productive engagement with the Ethiopian authorities.  

In his opening remark Chairman of EUBFE Mr. Ben Depraetere highlighted the current developments in the country and the challenges EU businesses face. He also pointed out success stories of previous high-level engagements with authorities of the Ethiopian government such as resolving business visa challenges, promising reforms within ERCA. He, however፣ stressed the need to urgently addess the forex allocation unpredictability. The joint steering committee with the Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority (ERCA) has been successful in tackling recurrent challenges EU businesses face on a regular basis.

 HE Dr. Belachew’s address

 HE Dr. Belachew on his part addressed the audience following the ambassador’s speech. He started off by appreciating the congratulatory remarks and for the opportunity to address EU businesses. He highlighted the positive developments the country is witnessing including the peace treaty with Eritrea and opening of various sectors for FDI, including the logistics sector. He appreciated the quality of investment from EU zones in relation to technology transfer and job creation. He also indicated that preparation for the EU-Ethiopia investment summit planned to be held in Brussels is underway and the date will be communicated shortly.

How can EU businesses be of assistance?

 The floor was open for Q&A following his address to which the commissioner made candid explanations. Questions raised include recurrent power-cuts, issues on import substitution not being viewed on equal terms as exports, significant disparity in services rendered by investment bureau in regional governments as opposed to federal one as well as general challenges businesses in the manufacturing sector face. In his response HE Dr. Belachew said power-cuts are mainly due to old grid-lines to which the government is working on modernizing. He concurs a lot needs to be done to substitute imports and encourage manufacturing, in general. A tax regime review can be on instrument in this regard. Regional governments are politically committed to promoting FDI, although it can be the case that the bureaucratic bottlenecks do remain a challenge. HE Dr. Belachew was particularly pleased with one concluding question from participants asking him “how can we be of assistance to the EIC?”. He believes not much has been done to learn and make use of the knowledge from within EU businesses and promised improved engagement in this regard.

Farewell Chris and Carl

The official address was followed up by a farewell note to the founding board chairman of EUBFE Mr. Chris De Muynck and the departing economic attaché of the EU Delegation Mr. Carl Daspect. As a token of appreciation for their relentless efforts in elevating EUBFE to its current status, the chairman of EUBFE awarded both with a local artwork.

Mr. Chris was the founding chairman of the EUBFE, guiding the association into becoming an umbrella EU chamber with strong working relations with the Ethiopian Revenue and Customs authority as well as the Ethiopian Investment Commission. Together with the outgoing economic attaché of the EUD Mr. Carl Daspect, he led EUBFE into becoming member of the global network of EU chambers. The EUBFE community extends its warmest gratitude to immense contributions of both Mr. Chris De Muynck and Mr Carl Daspect.

The event continued with informal networking and cocktail reception until 7:40 pm during which members of ENLBA and EUBFE mingled with other guests and invited diplomatic community .