The Director of Diaspora Affairs in the Office of the President, Mr. Kallay Musa Conteh held a meeting with the Deputy Director General of the Ethiopian Investment Commission, Mr. Mohammed Seyed on Monday 23rd November, 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In his introductory remarks, Mr. Conteh said that the main objective of his interface was to harness the Diaspora investment opportunities in Ethiopia and how best Sierra Leone could benefit from it.
Mr. Conteh pointed out that the meeting with the Ethiopian Investment Commission would enable him to develop a viable investment framework in a bid to strengthen his office.
The Director of Diaspora Affairs recalled that the meeting with his Ethiopian counterpart at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was centred on a wide range of issues about Diaspora engagement and migration.
Sierra Leone, he said, is a liberal economy and noted that he could match those investment policies to fit in the Sierra Leonean context.
The Deputy Director General of the Ethiopian Investment Commission, Mr. Mohammed Seyed informed the meeting that Government has created the enabling environment to attract both foreign and domestic investors.
Mr. Seyed disclosed that there are areas which are exclusively reserved for their nationals to invest as a way of encouraging and empowering them.
He said that foreign investors can only invest in the following areas: manufacturing, agriculture, wholesale, food industry, hotel and tourism and outlined the telecoms industry and the financial sector as the areas, which are prohibited for foreigners to invest in.
Mr. Seyed further explained about the functions of his Commission such as the issuance work permits to foreigners, registration of trade names, authentication of companies’ names and the like.
In attendance at the meeting were: Mr. Ahmed Nur Yusuf, License and Registration Directorate Director of the Ethiopian Investment Commission; Mr. Ibrahim Kondoh, Head of Chancery and Mr. Amos Coker, Financial Attaché in the Embassy of the Republic of Sierra Leone in Addis Ababa.
Abdul Karim Koroma
Information Attaché
Embassy of the Republic of Sierra Leone
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Email: [email protected]
