Ethiopia Clinches $1.6 Billion in Planned Investments at High-Level Business Forum

Ethiopia concluded the Invest in Ethiopia High-Level Business Forum with the signing of five investment agreements totaling over $1.6 billion. The event, held over two days in Addis Ababa and co-organized by the Ethiopian Investment Commission and, Ministry of finance and Development Partners Group, brought together investors from China, the Middle East, and Europe alongside Ethiopian officials and private sector representatives. 

The largest investment was a $600 million commitment by Sequa Mining and Processing PLC, a joint venture between Chinese and Ethiopian companies, to develop coal mining projects. Huawei Mining Processing Company Limited signed an agreement for a $500 million investment in mineral exploration, processing, and the development of a special economic zone dedicated to the mining sector. Hanergy New Energy Technology Company Limited, in partnership with Jandu, committed $360 million to build a solar cell manufacturing plant.

Sesar Energy Advancing Solutions signed a two-phase deal amounting to $250 million to support solar energy infrastructure, with $100 million allocated for the first phase and $150 million for the second. Toyo Solar Manufacturing Development PLC committed $14 million to expand its solar cell production capacity.

The investments span the energy and mining sectors, which have been prioritized under Ethiopia’s Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda. Ethiopia has been revising its investment laws, expanding public-private partnerships, and opening formerly state-controlled sectors to foreign investment. These reforms follow earlier large-scale investments in sectors such as industrial parks, agriculture, and telecommunications.

According to the Ethiopian Investment Commission, Ethiopia attracted approximately $3.4 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) during the 2022/23 fiscal year, with China, India, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates among the main sources. Chinese firms, in particular, play a major role, accounting for nearly half of Ethiopia’s FDI and operating more than 4,500 projects across manufacturing, infrastructure, and resource extraction sectors. 

The deals signed at the forum add to ongoing projects in solar energy, manufacturing, and mining, and are expected to be implemented over multi-year timelines.