Overseas Ethiopians invest at home.

05 Jun, 2006

Ethiopians living overseas and foreigners of Ethiopian origin have invested a total of 7.5 billion birr in the country since 1998 according to Ethiopian Investment Agency figures. Just under one third of the total (2.2 billion birr) has gone into manufacturing, while the construction, education and agriculture sectors have attracted 687 million birr, 249 million and 139 million birr respectively. So far 800 overseas Ethiopians and foreign citizens with Ethiopian roots have invested in the Horn of Africa country. Of these 160 put money into the country in 2004, to a total of 2.3 billion birr. Despite recent moves to privatise some sectors of the economy and to streamline bureaucracy Ethiopia continues to attract only a small amount of foreign investment. Much of this comes from the Ethiopian diaspora.