Could you give a presentation of the Chamber of Commerce as well as its history?

The history of the Chamber of Commerce in Ethiopia started 50 years ago. The Chamber was created during the Emperior's period. We currently have 13 city Chambers and the National Chamber. The membership is not mandatory, it is on voluntary basis. The three main objectives are to be involved in advocacy work, service delivery and social responsibility. Concerning advocacy, it is one of the strongest civic forces of the country. It has evolved heavily, especially during the last 10 years, in policy formulation and a lot of issues to make certain that fre-market economy is exercised in this country and business and investment environment is much better. So a lot of advocacy work is going on and we raise issues, social and economic issues, we engage ourselves in public dialogues. At this particular period, our level of engagement has gone very high, we have established joint public-private consultative forum with the government which is very actively working in addressing issues concerning the business and investment in this country. It is a very unique program for the country, it is designed out of the needs of the business community and the government. So we believe that it will be sustainable and a lot of problems solved. It is one of the main achievements. As far as the services are concerned, it is one of the few institutions which give non financial support to business and investments in the country, delivering information, trainings, identifying projects and also supporting the business community in all aspects. We organise a number of meetings, discussions, symposiums, workshops to create awareness for the business community so that it is competitive enough at the global and regional level. We have a very active website and we have a good number of connections on e-mails with our members. We have got a radio program in one of the city chambers. So these are some of the services we deliver. Concerning the Trade Fair, it is growing. This year, we have had 26 countries.

How many companies are affiliated to the Chamber of Commerce?

The strongest city Chamber is the Addis Chamber of Commerce. It has got more than 8000 members. For the other city Chambers, the business is not as active so there are less members. But all in all we have more than 20 000 businesses affiliated to the entire Chamber. There are also very active associations. I was president of the Ethiopian Manufacturers Association before I came to the Chamber. There is the Contractors Association, Hotelers Association, Tanners Association, Textile Garment Manufacturers Association for instance. All of them are working together with the Chamber. The relation between the city Chambers is also very strong. They are closely working together, especially in the advocacy area and also service area. As for the social responsability, we are very active in dealing with anti-aids issues and we are very much involved in poverty reduction strategy and document preparation on that matter which is nowadays becoming very important for developing countries. Unlike other chambers in other countries, we are very active socially and we believe we have influenced the governement to include some issues which we think are vital for poverty reduction in the country.

What are your plans to attract investors, mostly foreign investors?

The most important thing is how a country can attract foreign direct investment. What really matters for the investors is what the investment environment looks like in a country for the local investors. If local investors are convinced, then it is easier to convince foreign investors. Our first target is to make Ethiopia a possible candidate for investment for us, for the locals. If we can assure that, then convincing the foreign investors will not be a problem. So our advocacy is targeted to create a conducive investment environment for the country.
Our second target is to change the image of Ethiopia or to participate with the government to jointly try to change the image of the country. For this purpose, we travel with government officials to different investment forums in different countries. We usually make presentations, telling to people what is actually happening here, because politicians talk about the political will of the government, the policy issues and the investment policies and so on. We usually emphasise to foreigners that we are not politicians, we are not diplomats, we are businessmen. So we see things from the business perspectives. And we usually raise main policy issues which should convince foreigners to come and live in Ethiopia. One of the main issues we usually raise is the unique character of Ethiopia. With its biodiversity and climate conditions, it is a country which does not require air conditioning throughout the year, the weather is so pleasant. Also the social stability is unique. I remember when EPRDF came to power, when there were thrown out, there was power vacancy in the cities and the rural areas, to the extend of 3 to 5 days for the cities, there was no police, no government, no military. In the countryside, for 1 to 5 months, there was nobody controlling but people managed to live peacefully and that is a unique thing which is difficult to find in another country. We have also a great ethnic diversity, we speak different languages. So if a foreigner comes here, it does not make any difference because he will come up with a different culture and language. So this ethnic diversity is a very good point for investors to feel at home here. The history of the country is also an important thing. For example, Ethiopia has not been colonised and thanks to this, we have no negative attitude towards foreigners, compared with other African countries such as Kenya and Nigeria. All these countries have their scars of foreigners, but it is different for Ethiopians. We respect foreigners. So it is a unique psychological safety for the foreigners to feel comfortable here, there is no hostility. Usually foreigners do not have clear information on the situation in Ethiopia, they know about the war, about the drought and nothing else. So our aim is also to convince businessmen to consider investment in Ethiopia.

Could you talk about your professional experiences and background?

I am an industrial chemist. I have my own factory which produces plastic and rubber parts. I have been president of the Chemical Society of Ethiopia for about 8 years. I have been president of the Ethiopian Manufacturers Association, which used to be called Ethiopian Private Industries Association. I was elected as vice-president of the Chamber 7 years ago and was elected president of the Chamber of Commerce of Addis Ababa two years ago. I was also elected as president of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce. Since the term has elapsed, there was re-election and was re-elected. I was the only candidate for the presidency and I believe that shows confidence people have in me. It is a very demanding task but I believe things are moving positively and people are happy about it. I am married and have got 4 children. I am involved in different business : pharmaceuticals, media. We hope to establish the first private electronics media. We are also producing a newspaper in Amharic, we have already trained people and we have got some equipments for the radio, we are waiting for the licence. So it is going to be one of the biggest media companies in the country.