The Ethiopia Investment Commission (EIC) said the country has attracted 3.31 billion U.S. dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the 2021/2022 fiscal year which ended on July 7. This is despite the civil war that has been ongoing in the Tigray region since November 2020.

EIC said in a statement that 168 investors took out investment licenses during the 2021/2022 fiscal year.

It said 100 investors took out manufacturing sector investment licenses, 62 investors took investment licenses in the services sector, and six others got investment licenses in the agricultural sector.

EIC also said Ethiopia earned 202.5 million U.S. dollars from industrial parks products exports in the 2021/2022 fiscal year.

The export earnings showed an increase of 24.4 million U.S. dollars when compared to the 2020/2021 fiscal year.

In recent years, Ethiopia had embarked on industrial parks’ construction and commissioning activities, as part of a broad economic strategy to make the country a light manufacturing hub in Africa by 2025.