The International Finance Corporation (IFC), member of the World Bank Group is to cooperate with the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade (MoT) and Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority (ERCA) to help improve the country’s investment and trade environment.

The Ministry of Trade will launch an electronic business licensing and trade registration system shortly, while Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority will consider to revise its laws.

Ethiopia ranked 104th out of 183 countries in the World Bank Group’s Doing Business Report 2011.  This ranking has placed Ethiopia one of the lowest countries worldwide despite the various laws, regulations and amendments the government is undertaking regularly.

The International Finance Corporation has conducted assessment for one year to analyze the market and policy failures and constraints that potentially hinder Ethiopia’s ability to develop, grow and build the private sector taking into consideration the government’s Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP).  In accordance with the assessment, a three-year Ethiopian Investment Climate Program, designed in collaboration with the government and private sector stakeholders, was launched  on March 8, 2013 at the Sheraton Addis.

The International Finance Corporation and the two Ethiopian government ministries, MoT, and ERCA, signed a partnership agreement to assist the Ethiopian government in its effort to improve the business climate by streamlining and simplifying high priority regulations, processes and practices constraining the private sector, and to address investment climate issues that hinder further in Ethiopia.

The project is estimated to cost USD 10 million which will be shared among IFC, partners, donors and the government of Ethiopia. IFC will also  provide technical support, share knowledge, and bring best practices, and build the capacity of the government according to Adamou Labara, Resident Representative of IFC in Ethiopia.

Source: Capital