The Finance Minister of France, Bruno Le Maire, is set to visit Ethiopia next week and discuss economic cooperation, among others.
The Minister expected to arrive on Monday will meet with senior government officials to foster and diversify economic ties between the two countries, according to the state news agency of Ethiopia – ENA report. Bruno Le Maire will be welcomed by top management of the Ethiopian Airlines Group and expected to visit the airlines on same day.
Reports show that France has been one of the major development partners of Ethiopia through its development agency and investments such as construction of wind farms in the east African country.
The first treaty of friendship and trade that is signed between France and Ethiopia dates back to 1843 and was made between the French king Louis-Philippe and the king of Shoa Sahle Selassie. The construction of the railway linking Djibouti to Addis Ababa, was also done by the French starting in 1897 and completed twenty years later.
A few years ago, the French France telecom has also restructered and managed Ethio Telecom, which used to be called Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporations. It is also recalled that on March 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron has paid a visit to Ethiopia and signed numerous cooperation accords including air cooperation and joint operations, and opportunities for training and equipment purchases. Ethiopia and France agreed on military cooperation accord, a deal which includes helping Ethiopia build a navy.