Parliament Legislates Investment Law

Feb 1 , 2020


[ssba-buttons]

Parliament approved a new investment law, which is expected to relax the investment environment in the country, on January 30, 2020. Drafted by the Ethiopian Investment Commission law revision task force, the bill was in the making for close to a year. The revision opens up the logistics, financial and aviation sectors. It paves the way for public-private partnerships in the manufacturing of military weapons, imports, exports, power distribution, international air transport and postal services with the exception of courier services. The investment law was revisited in 2014 for the last time and was first legislated in 2012. The law also partially opens the door for the provision of logistics service, air transport services, inland public transport and freight transport to foreign investment. In the first quarter of this fiscal year, only 700 million dollars worth of foreign direct investment flowed against a target of one billion dollars.


Radar

US Renews National Emergency, Sanctions on Ethiopia

The United States has extended the national emergency and sanctions on Ethiopia for another year under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA). Signed by President Donald J. Trump, the measure was first declared on September 17, 2021, through an executive order citing the conflict in northern region of the country as an "unusual and extraordinary" threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The extension, effective until September 17, 2026, keeps in place restrictions targeti...


Radar

Rockefeller Pitches Clean Cooking to Curb School Meal Emissions

A recent study has revealed the staggering environmental toll of school feeding programs. A single school serving 400 students can burn through the equivalent of 56 hectares of forest each year to fuel cooking. The Rockefeller Foundation flagged the health risks too, with most cooks, predominantly women, breathing smoke levels ten times higher than the World Health Organisation's safe limit. "If every school meal transitioned to clean cooking with electricity and solar, the emissions saved wo...


Radar

Sun-Powered Grid Brings Light to Qunbi District

A new 600KW solar mini-grid in East Hararge'sQunbi district has connected 2,200 households to electricity, marking a milestone in the recent rural electrification push. Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) laid seven kilometres of medium-voltage and 10 kilometres of low-voltage lines, installing four transformers to reach communities long cut off from power. Customers cover only meter and installation costs before accessing the service. The project is part of the national strategy to expand energ...