SUMMARY: The Government of Ethiopia's (GoE) recent high profile land deals and shift in agricultural policy (reftel) have attracted additional foreign investors to the agricultural and tourism sectors. In January, Egyptian Prime Minster Dr. Ahmed Nazif led a large delegation to Ethiopia to announce the National Bank of Egypt's lease of 49,400 acres of land to grow cereals.
Press reports indicated that these cereals are headed for export to Egypt. Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Djiboutian President Ismael Omar Guelleh separately leased land plots to build hotels outside of Addis Ababa, while Guelleh already leases a 7,400 acre farm that started exporting wheat back to Djibouti last year.
Finally, the South African private equity investment fund Agri-Vie invested USD 3.5 million in a company that is growing and processing various fruits to manufacture juice products. These juice products will primarily target the European and the Middle Eastern markets as reported by the company to Econoff. Despite the benefits of increased foreign investment, political opposition members and international critics remain skeptical about the GoE's motives and the land policy's affect on poor, rural Ethiopians
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]---- Received on Sun Oct 02 2011 - 20:36:21 EDT
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