[Addis Ababa, March 12, 2024] – The European Chamber in Ethiopia announces the launch of a policy brief focusing on access to land for investors. The document titled ‘Access to Land:Streamlining Land Acquisition for Investors Outside Industrial Parks’ discusses challenges associated with accessing land for foreign investment outside of the industrial zones in Ethiopia. The policy brief was produced by the European Chamber in Ethiopia in collaboration with the EU funded Technical Assistance for Business Environment and Investment Climate, including e-government (BEIC) project.

The document highlights challenges such as bureaucratic delays across different administrative tiers, insufficient pre-allocation of land, excessive compensation demands, and complications in compensation management (shifting from direct disbursement to communities to depositing into a resettlement fund). These issues are compounded by frequent changes in regional structures and land office officials, limited infrastructure to access existing land, coordination gaps between federal and regional authorities, fraudulent activities, administrative capacity issues and resource limitations, inconsistencies in land allocation and misuse of land by investors.

The policy brief puts forth a set of recommendations for the Ethiopian government to consider, one of which is the establishment of clear and consistent policies that promote transparency, fairness, and efficient land administration to encourage investment and economic development. Key suggestions include enhancing the capacity of land administration offices, fostering federal-regional coordination, implementing robust anti-corruption measures and ensuring a transparent land registry. Additional recommendations involve creating guidelines to calculate compensations and coordinating land valuation with relevant authorities such as the Ministry of Agriculture, improving the effectiveness of the one-stop shop service at the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), developing allocation guidelines at all administrative levels, facilitating consultative meetings with displaced individuals, streamlining processes at regional land bureaus, and studying successful land reforms in countries like Vietnam to inform policy decisions.

The document summarizes the results of an online survey, one-to-one semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions with relevant stakeholders, including Ministries, business associations, investors, and academics. Additionally, it evaluates Proclamation No. 1161/2019 concerning the Expropriation of Land Holdings for Public Purposes, Compensation Payments, and Resettlement of Displaced People. The objective is to identify challenges faced by the private sector, in relation to accessing land for investment in Ethiopia, thereby creating a conducive environment for private sector growth and attracting foreign investment to Ethiopia.

The policy brief was launched on March 12, 2024 at Hyatt Regency with the attendance of representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ethiopian Investment Commission, the European Union and the European Chamber in Ethiopia.

Since 2012, the European Chamber in Ethiopia, EuroCham in short and formerly known as EUBFE, represents the European business community in Ethiopia. The European FDI business association currently counts 180 members, and is an independent association licensed by the EIC. EuroCham envisions supporting Ethiopia becoming one of the most attractive business environments in Africa through an inclusive economy. EuroCham aims to support and empower European Businesses in Ethiopia through enhancing information exchange, establishing networking platforms and a continuous dialogue with the Government Stakeholder for jointly improving the business climate.