The Government of Ethiopia made a decision to fully liberalize freight forwarding sector by opening it to foreign investors.
The excision is made today by the Ethiopian Investment Board, which approved a decision to open the freight forwarding sector for participation by foreign investors.
Previously, under Regulation No. 474/2020, foreign investors’ participation in freight forwarding investment was restricted to joint investments between domestic and foreign investors, while the capital share participation of foreign investors was limited to 49 percent. As a result, this created gaps in attracting the desired new investment flows into the sector. The Board’s decision is expected to address this and similar challenges.
The decision is also expected to help both existing investors operating in the sector and new investors entering the sector to build greater confidence in the logistics industry.
According to the decision, opening the sector to foreign investors will have significant benefits in providing fast, efficient, and modern logistics services, reducing national logistics costs, facilitating knowledge and technology transfer, and enabling domestic operators to strengthen their capacity and become more competitive.
It was also indicated that the Ethiopian Investment Commission is carrying out various reform activities to create a favorable investment environment, and this decision is part of those efforts.
