Ethiopia at a Glance

Ethiopia, is in the Horn of Africa, is a rugged, landlocked country split by the Great Rift Valley. With archaeological finds dating back more than 3 million years, it’s a place of ancient culture. Among its important sites are Lalibela with its rock-cut Christian churches from the 12th–13th centuries. Aksum is the ruins of an ancient city with obelisks, tombs, castles and Our Lady Mary of Zion church.

Ethiopia has an elevated central plateau varying in height from 2,000 to 3,000 meters above sea level. In the North and center of the country there are some 25 mountains whose peaks reach over 4,000 meters. The most famous Ethiopian river is the Blue Nile or Abbay, which flows a distance of 1,450 kilometers from its source to join the White Nile at Khartoum.

More than 70% of the population earns a living from the land mainly as substance farmers. Agriculture is the backbone of the national economy, and the principal exports from this sector are coffee, oilseeds, pulses, flowers, vegetables, sugar, and foodstuffs for animals. There is also the thriving livestock sector, exporting cattle, hides, and skins.

Time: Ethiopia is in GMT + 3 time zone. It follows the Julian calendar, which consists of 12 months of 30 days each and a 13th month of five or six days (on a leap year).

Working hours: Government office hours are 8:30 am – 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm – 5:30 pm from Monday through Thursday; and 8:30 am to 11:30 and 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm on Fridays.

Economic Indicators

• As one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, Ethiopia’s economy has achieved robust, broad-based growth.
• Averaging 10.3% a year from 2006/07 to 2016/17, compared to a regional average of 5.4%. 
• Ethiopia has made significant progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The share of its population living below the poverty line declined from 44 percent in 2000 to around 30 percent in 2010; by the end of the GTP I period (2014/15), the figures fell further to 23.4 percent (National Planning Commission 2015).

Fast economic growth, conducive investment climate, large market size, and high-level government commitment towards FDI attraction have contributed to the growth of FDI inflow into Ethiopia-making the country the largest recipient of FDI in East Africa and the 4th largest on the continent.

East Africa, the fastest-growing region in Africa, received $8.9 billion in FDI in 2018, of which Ethiopia absorbed more than a third and is now the 4th largest recipient of FDI in the continent of Africa (after Egypt, Algeria, and Nigeria) and the largest in East Africa. (UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2019 and FDI Intelligence).