The United States investment in Ethiopia reached USD 4 billion. Mr. Girma Biru, Ethiopian Ambassador to the US, stated that several US companies and Ethiopians abroad contributed to this growth, Walta Information Center Reported.

Corbetti Geothermal Company, KKR & CO., l.P Horticulture, Blackstone and Coca Cola are some of the US companies presently investing in Ethiopia.

Besides President Obama’s visit to Ethiopia, investment ties have also been growing mainly because of the African growth and Opportunity ACT (AGOA) which is considered to have played a major role for Africa’s economic growth as a whole and Ethiopia’s in particular.

AGOA builds existing US trade programs by expanding duty-free benefits previously available only under the country’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.

Duty-free access to the U.S. market under the combined AGOA/GSP program stands at approximately 7,000 product tariff lines, including the roughly 1,800 tariff lines that were added to the GSP pool by the AGOA legislation.

Patricia M. Haslach, U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, on her part said that US would continue to support Ethiopia, a country aspiring to become a middle income status country by 2025.

The ambassador added that given Ethiopia's commitment to trade and investment through the second Growth and Transformation Plan, the U.S government and the business community saw Ethiopia as an important partner.

Over 100 U.S. companies have so far visited Africa including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa and Angola with the intension of promoting trade ties.

Source: Walta Information Center