Ethiopia Investment Commission’s new portal goes live
Ethiopia has launched a new website that is set to boost inward investment – with a focus on Chinese investors.
A website that takes potential foreign investors on the complete business journey from considering Ethiopia as a destination through to the steps and incentives involved in investing in the country is now live.
The online investment promotion portal of the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) was developed with the support of the ITC’s Partnership for Investment and Growth in Africa (PIGA).
‘This is a one stop-shop for investors looking to invest in Ethiopia,’ said Paul Kelly, senior trade information officer at ITC.
‘Specific attention has been paid to the needs of Chinese investors and features such as a WeChat account have been added to appeal to the needs of this specific audience,’ Mr. Kelly said.
The portal was launched by the EIC in Addis Ababa in May 2019 and is supported by data from sources inside and outside of Ethiopia.
‘The portal was designed by the International Trade Centre (ITC), taking into account best practices for the creation of such portals following an extensive review of the websites of leading investment promotion agencies around the world,’ Mr. Kelly added.
The result is a content-generous investment promotion portal that allows the EIC to provide information across a number of areas: living and working in Ethiopia, investment procedures and incentives, the support system for investors and the opportunities available.
The portal features several interactive maps, online calculators for tax incentives and labour costs and the display of critical economic and sector information through a suite of infographics.
Roaming investors
‘The portal has been developed using a flexible software environment to ensure it can be easily updated and expanded as required to suit the evolving needs of EIC,’ Mr. Kelly said.
‘It has been enabled for mobile devices to respond to the needs of the roaming user. As of today, the platform is wholly managed by a dedicated team at Addis-based Ethiopian Investment Commission,’ he said.
The portal was developed by ITC as part of the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development-supported PIGA project and in cooperation with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), and the China Africa Development Funds (CADFund).
ITC has developed online investment promotion portals for the three other Investment Promotion Agencies partnering with PIGA:
• Export Promotion Agency of Mozambique (APIEX),
• Zambia Development Agency (ZDA)
• Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest)
These are set to be launched later in 2019.
