EUBFE held consultative workshop with member companies' on August 18, 2022 with sourcing and procurement experts on challenges and potentials for local sourcing. The outcome of this consultative workshop will be used to develop a policy brief that would present the potential for linkage between local manufacturers with European FDI. It will also present the exiting bottlenecks that hampered the backward linkage with a view of recommending potential solutions and policy interventions. In addition to the active consultation that helped in garnering helpful qualitative data, a survey will be disseminated to capture the quantitative potential for local sourcing.

 

Together with the EU Delegation to Ethiopia, the EU business forum and its member companies hosted members of the parliament of the European Union led by Mr. David McAllister. On the occasion, the head of delegation of the EU delegation to Ethiopia, Ambassador Roland Kobia, appreciated the perseverance of the European business community that has remained committed to contributing to the enhancement of the business climate. Board chairman of EUBFE, Mr. Ben Depraetere, thanked the members of the parliament for taking the time to engage with the business community and share opinions that would strengthen the economic partnership between Europe and Ethiopia. He also shared copies of the Business Climate Report 2021 that depicts the perception of European investors in Ethiopia, including summaries of policy interventions that would contribute to the ease of doing business.

The EUBFE ratified several motions and elected new board members on the occasion of its annual general assembly of 2022. The AGM was hosted by Heineken breweries in their new headquarters. The executive director of EUBFE presented annual activity and audit report for FY 2021 as well as plans for 2022. 

Two motions were also presented for ratification were- the amendment of membership rules and a motion to change EUBFE's name to European Chamber in Ethiopia. The executive director and the board chairman explained to the general assembly on the background of the need for such motions. Both also responded to queries from members. After a brief deliberation, the two motions were unanimously endorsed by the general assembly. The third agenda was the election of new board members that would replace the one who served for the previous two years. Representatives of BASF Vegetable Seeds, TotalEnergies, Unilever, Heineken, Neumann Kaffe Gruppe, Krones-Ethiopia, Varnero Construction, Ethiopia-Netherlands Business Association and French Business Club came forward to take up the responsibility at the board of EUBFE. All were unanimously elected to the board.

The last session of the afternoon was a presentation by a member law firm-BonellieErede- on the new investment incentive regulation vis-a-vis the old one. Following Q&A the day was concluded with a cocktail reception. The full content of the legal review that was presented at the thematic networking can be accessed below.

New Investment Incentives Regulation Summary by BonelliErede