| « Ethiopia Invades Somalia In Fight Against Al-Shabab - NPR | Ethiopian-Israelis rally against racism » |
Ethiopia Sale of State Assets Would Raise $7.6 Billion
Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia’s government would raise 132 billion birr ($7.6 billion) if it sold the country’s five biggest state-owned companies to private investors, Access Capital SC said.
The sale of Ethiopian Airlines Enterprises, sub-Saharan Africa’s second-biggest carrier, Ethiopian Shipping Lines, Ethio Telecom, the Ethiopian Insurance Corp. and Commercial Bank of Ethiopia would generate funds needed to finance infrastructure projects in the country, the Addis Ababa-based research company said in its annual economic report. Proceeds from 81 other public enterprises earmarked for sale by the government would raise more than $1.9 billion, it said Jan. 9.
“Ethiopia needs cash now and it makes perfect sense to liquidate the net worth held in long-accumulated assets for something as grand as ensuring a transformative change in the country’s economic history,” Access said.
A five-year growth plan unveiled by the government in 2010 calls for 569 billion birr to be invested in projects including roads, dams, sugar factories and railways by mid-2015. Privatization is necessary because Ethiopia doesn’t have the savings to finance the “needed, justified and on the whole appropriate” public spending, Access said. The sale of assets would also boost foreign investment in sub-Saharan Africa’s fourth-biggest economy, it said.
Read More from Bloomberg
Comments are closed for this post.