Officials of the French business confederation (MEDEF) are in Ethiopia to explore and identify projects they want to invest in, according to the French daily Le Monde. After undertaking similar tasks in Kenya for three days, 40 business executives under the umbrella of MEDEF have arrived in Addis Ababa on Thursday for two days stay, the paper wrote. The group was led by Pierre Gattaz, the head of MEDEF in its first visit of East Africa. The companies included 40 major French firms Schneider Electric, Total, Urbasolar, Peugeot, Sse Air Liquide, Semmaris and Bollore among many more. MEDEF officials sees prospect in the country that has an estimated GDP of USD 63 billion in 2015 and has achieved has achieved double- digit growth in real terms, averaging 10.6% per year in the last decade. Nearly 70 French companies are already present in the country, including the brewer BGI Castel, Total, and Systra, engaged in the rail sector. Bernard Coulais, general manager of BGI, told the French entrepreneurs that Ethiopia is country where there is a lot do. Talking about the group that has been present in the country for the past twenty years, he said at the start BGI used to produce between 10000 and 15000 hectolitres of beer per month. “Today, we are producing between 35,000 and 400,000.” He also talked about the challenges, saying that “it is a bureaucratic country, very state-controlled and the banking system has not developed. ”
During the visit, the group paid a visit to the Ethiopian Airlines, the biggest enterprise of the country and the only African operator of the Airbus A350-900 XWB. Le Monde wrote despite the economic growth of the country, the recent political turmoil could upset the economic perspective and the country has been in the lime light for the wrong reasons, for political instability, the resignation of the Prime Minister and the declaration of state of emergency. The paper quoted a Kenyan based European analyst who described Ethiopia “the sick country of the region, where it’s cracking everywhere.” Strange context for investors exploring business opportunities, the paper wrote.