High time for Pakistani businessmen to invest in Ethiopia: Envoy.

KARACHI -- Ethiopian Ambassador to Pakistan Jemal Beker Abdula has said that it was high time for Pakistani businessmen to invest in Ethiopia, which had lucrative opportunities in different economic sectors.

"Our government opened the financial sector some three months ago and now looks forward to the establishment of traditional banks and stock exchange in Ethiopia," the ambassador said in a meeting with the JS Bank Founder Jahangir Siddiqui.

Jemal Beker said that the current government in Ethiopia had opened its economy offering numerous opportunities to investors in diverse sectors such as agriculture, agro-processing, manufacturing, mining, textile, health sector, tourism, and ICT.

"Our government wants to make Ethiopia a manufacturing hub of Africa as we are already producing the cheapest clean energy in the world," he said, adding some 96.4 per cent electricity was being produced from water and Geothermal sources.

He said Ethiopia was exporting clean energy to Kenya, Sudan, and Djibouti, while efforts were afoot to sell it to other countries and ensure regional integration through energy grid.

The ambassador said Ethiopia was geographically located at a very important position, and for Pakistan it would be a gateway to Africa.

"We will start the Ethiopian Airline operations in Karachi by the end of this year or January 2023," he noted. He said the initiative would connect Pakistan with Ethiopia and boost bilateral trade significantly, which currently amounts to 78 million US...