Ethiopia is opening the state-owned telecommunications company and airline to foreign investors for the first time, a move that indicates new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is more receptive to outside interests in Africa’s second-most populous nation. According to Bloomberg, Ethiopia will sell minority stakes to foreign and domestic investors in state monopolies such Ethio Telecom and Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise, the continent’s biggest airline, as well as Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics Services Enterprise, the state-run Ethiopian News Agency said late Tuesday, citing the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front. “Foreigners with knowledge and foreign capital can play a critical role in our growth,” it said. The move hints at Abiy’s intent for the nation ranked by the International Monetary Fund as Africa’s fastest-growing economy. The deal was originally signed in 2000 to end a two-year border war that killed thousands of people.

Source: Ethiopian News June 06, 2018 09:56 UTC