Zemedeneh Negatu, the managing partner of EY Ethiopia, ended his collaboration with the international consultancy office. It was after working for 15 years that the 2 ended the collaboration.
Following the end of the collaboration, Zemedeneh is said to assume a new role as the Global Chairman of Fairfax Africa Fund LLC.
Fairfax is a Virginian based company with an investment portfolio of 200 million USD. The company is also an early investor of HelloCash.
EY on the other has its headquarter in London, UK, and it is a multinational consultancy firm. It has been operating in Ethiopia for a decade and half after partnering up with Zemedeneh. One of its notable clients is Ethiopian Airlines.
“EY has ceased its relationship with its member firm in Ethiopia and is modifying its operating model in this country”, Fathima Naidoo, Africa Media Relations for EY, explained. “EY has served clients in Ethiopia for over 15 years and we remain committed to supporting their ongoing growth throughout existing Africa member firms, consisting of more than 5,750 people in 32 countries. We will continue to re-assess our operating model to ensure we are best serving our clients in one of the fastest growing economies in Africa”.
According to The Reporter, Zemedeneh has extended to EY’s clients a message that they will get the same quality service from Fairfax.
“At Fairfax Africa Fund, we work on infrastructure, mining, energy, agro-industry and manufacturing. We focus on high growth registering African markets through multiple investment platforms, by providing financing as private equity, venture capital and mezzanine. In certain countries we also provide investment banking and transaction advisory services,” Zemedeneh explained. “We are in the midst of deciding which companies to keep or let go.”
Zemedeneh also noted that his company will launch its biggest investment in Ethiopia during the fourth quarter of 2017. The investment is going to be 3 billion USD oil infrastructure project in joint venture with one of the largest conglomerates in Asia.
Source: The Reporter
