Eurocham joined members of the diplomatic community in welcoming the new president of EU Commission on her maiden trip outside Europe
On her first trip outside Europe as head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen visited Addis Ababa, on Saturday December 7 2019. On a speech she made during a reception organized by the EU Delegation to Ethiopia and the AU, Ms. Von Der Leyen underlined the important strategic alliance with Africa her leadership will pursue. She also congratulated the Ethiopian leadership for the reform they are engaged in and in particular the Prime Minister for winning this year’s nobel peace prize Eurocham was represented by its co-chair Mr Timklienebenne (pictured with Von der Leyen) and its executive director Mr. Nahom F. Abraham at the evening reception.
The Fourth Thematic Networking Event of Eurocham took place
The end of the year and the fourth thematic networking event of EUBF took place on December 10, 2019 at the Golden Tulip Hotel. The theme of the evening was Eurocham -2020. On behalf of the board members of Eurocham , the executive director Mr. Nahom F. Abraham presented the key strategic directions Eurocham would follow in the year 2020 along three focus areas; expanding membership base, expanding services to members and strengthening engagement with the public sector. Following the presentation, board members conferred one-on-one with members to garner more information and perspectives on strengthening Eurocham services further. The information gathered at the event will be used to enrich the plans of activities of Eurocham for the year 2020.
Public-Private Dialogue with Foreign Business Associations, including Eurocham, was Held
Public-Private-Dialogue (PPD), the second round, was held on December 4, 2019 at the Hilton Hotel. Eurocham , as co-chair of the PPD team, worked tirelessly to collect, analyze and depict the major challenges of foreign businesses in Ethiopia. This PPD deliberated on taxation and customs concerns of foreign businesses. PPD was facilitated by the Ethiopian Investment Commission represented by Deputy Commissioners Mrs. Hanna Arayaselassie and Mr. Temesgen Tilahun , along side Mr.Zemede Teferra-State Minister Ministry of Revenue. Opening remark on the PPD was made by Mr. Ben Depraetere, board chair of Eurocham . In his remark he highlighted the preparation of PPD and appreciated the role EIC and MoR played in making it a reality. He concluded by a encouraging a more sustained dialogue of such format. Issues on taxation and customs were presented by representatives of the PPD preparation team and responded to by staff from MoR.
Eurocham signed MoU with Ministry of Trade and Industry
Introduction to the electronic customs management system (E-CMS) was the theme of the event. The E-CMS is a new system that has been implemented for the Ethiopian Customs Commission for over a year, with funding from the European Union. Its goal is to improve and digitize the entire customs shipment mechanism and meet the dire need of fast and efficient movement of goods in Ethiopia.
HE Ambassador Johan Borgstam, in his opening remark, appreciated Eurocham for organizing such an event that would enable EU businesses to understand new developments that could improve their operations. Chairman of Eurocham also highlighted major achievements and challenges Eurocham face on the back of existing economic reforms. Subsequently, the country manager of the host of the evening Total-Ethiopia, Mr. Thibault Lesueur, extended his warm welcome to guests.
A presentation on the new customs management system was made by the representative of Webb Fontaine, the company that deployed the system. Details of the power point presentation are found on our downloads page.
Joint Workshop Organized together with Ministry of Revenue Held
EU Business Forum in Ethiopia (EUBFE) in collaboration with the Ministry of Revenue (MoR) organized a training workshop for finance staff of member companies on October 17-2019 at the premises of MoR. The goal of the workshop was to equip participants with knowledge and skills in identifying fraudulent receipts. It is common knowledge that fraudulent receipts are causing considerable damage in the economy with some EU companies falling victim to such fraud. The training workshop was led by Ato Sisay Gezu, the director of the Intelligence and Investigation Directorate at MoR. During the lively discussion that followed the presentation, participants shared their experiences in combating illegal practices of such kind in addition to providing recommendations that would assist MoR.
This workshop is the one of the outcomes of the regular steering committee meeting held quarterly between the EUBFE and the MoR, as stipulated in the MoU signed between the two organizations.
E-CMS Themed Networking Event of Eurocham Took Place
Introduction to the electronic customs management system (E-CMS) was the theme of the event. The E-CMS is a new system that has been implemented for the Ethiopian Customs Commission for over a year, with funding from the European Union. Its goal is to improve and digitize the entire customs shipment mechanism and meet the dire need of fast and efficient movement of goods in Ethiopia.
HE Ambassador Johan Borgstam, in his opening remark, appreciated Eurocham for organizing such an event that would enable EU businesses to understand new developments that could improve their operations. Chairman of Eurocham also highlighted major achievements and challenges Eurocham face on the back of existing economic reforms. Subsequently, the country manager of the host of the evening Total-Ethiopia, Mr. Thibault Lesueur, extended his warm welcome to guests.
A presentation on the new customs management system was made by the representative of Webb Fontaine, the company that deployed the system. Details of the power point presentation are found on our downloads page.
Meeting Held with Ministry of Revenue on Issues Distilled from Eurocham Members
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 (Eurocham ) 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, Eurocham 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 Eurocham was able to confer with a number of EU companies who showed interest to invest in Ethiopia.
The EU-Ethiopia Business Forum took place from 13-15 May in Brussels
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 Ethiopian Investment Commission Launched online portal to service investment permits and renewals
The online portal intends to provide services including: request for new investment permit certificate, request for commercial registration certificate, application for expansion of existing investment permit or existing business license, application to renew investment permit and replace the investment permit certificate.
In addition, application for tax holiday incentive support of eligible projects, application for duty-free incentive support qualified projects were among the other services mentioned.
For more information please visit the web portal at https://www.invest-ethiopia.com/
EU Business Forum Provided Input on Consultation of the Draft Investment Law
On Saturday, July 6, 2019, following an invitation from the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), a consultative workshop was held on the draf of the Ethiopian Investment law. Some 200 companies, embassies and other development partners were invited to this meeting.
Representatives of the task force of 17 professionals set up to oversee the drafting of the law presented their findings followed by a question and answer session chaired by HE Abebe Abebayehu, commissioner of the EIC.
The presentation started with an outline of the method the task force applied in its review of the investment code.
Following this the working group presented some seven key policy implications for “Investment Policy White Paper”. These are rethinking of long held assumptions on investments; revising goals for investment promotion in line with changing context; holistic approach to investment (both attraction and retention thereof); consider both foreign direct investment and domestic investment as one policy area; comparing a sector-specific approach to the general promotion of (foreign) investments; incentive schemes for investments and investment administration. This white paper has been prepared based on an analysis of current laws, a comparison with relevant other markets and based on various consultations. The white paper serves as the basis for the committee’s final advice.
The subsequent presentation included the history of investment legislation and the international comparison about openness vs closedness of the market. Ethiopia currently has investment legislation in which some sectors are open to foreign investors, which often causes confusion regarding definition and definition. The committee’s recommendation was that Ethiopia would benefit restrictive listing approach, where negative list would be outlined. Any sector that is not enumerated in the negative list is considered open for FDI, clarifying any potential confusion. In this connection, the committee recommended three components to sector specific listing; .
1. areas of investment for Joint Ventures with the government (such as weapons manufacturing, the entire electricity sector, postal services);
2. areas of investment reserved for domestic investors (such as banking and insurance, retail, import trade (excl. LPG and bitumen), wholesale, export trade (of raw coffee, chat oil seeds), bakeries…..,) and
3. areas of investment reserved for joint venture with domestic investors with equity cap (such as forwarding and shipping agency services, advertising, market research, audio-visual services, domestic transport services, accounting, mass media service, land public transport, making indigenous medicine..).
All sectors not mentioned in the list, which would become public shorty according to the presenters, will be fully open to foreign investors.
The third presentation dealt with the proposals on the legal and organizational duties of the Ethiopian Investment Commission. Several recommendations were made, some of which are; coordination between the Ethiopian Aviation Authority, the Ethiopian Energy Authority and the EIC in developing sector specific studies with a view to attracting foreign investors; setting clear and minimal grounds for revoking or suspending the investment licenses; expand one-stop-shop (OSS) service provided by the EIC to include post-investment full scope service as well as the creation of comprehensive grievance management system.
Moreover, a nine member Ethiopian Investment Board is also recommended to be established under the leadership of the PM and representatives of all relevant Ministries and one none-voting seat reserved for the private sector.
A question and answer session chaired by the Commissioner of the EIC followed, in which several questions and comments were raised by participants. The commissioner acknowledged the suggestions as important input into the draft law. The draft law will be publicly available once such comments have been incorporated, he also added.
Board members of EUBFE in collaboration with AmCham counterparts lodged a brief reflection on the consultative session to the management of the EIC. The brief recommendation is believed to be enriched once the draft investment law becomes public.
