Washington DC, July 12, 2008

Click here to watch video of the conference»

Although the crowd of investors in George Washington University’s Jack Morton Auditorium on a Saturday afternoon was nestled in the heart of Washington, D.C, the center of attention was thousands of miles away–in the Horn of Africa. The auditorium was host to the invitation-only Third Ethiopian Diaspora Business Conference, an event co-sponsored by Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA), the GWU Diaspora Program, and the GWU Center for International Business Education and Research.

The forum, organized by The Ethiopian American magazine and Precise Consult International PLC, was part of an effort to tap into the investors and entrepreneurs of the second most populous African nation’s large diaspora community. The Ethiopian diaspora sends hundreds of millions of dollars in remittances to their mother country every year, and the two panels of officials and academics at the forum stressed that the Ethiopian diaspora could make rewarding contributions by investing in burgeoning industries back home and strengthening the Ethiopian economy. “Supporting your country is going to be best done in a sustainable way by creating employment opportunities,” said Ato Henok Assefa, M.A., Managing Partner for Precise Consult International PLC, in his address.

Many speakers drew on their audience’s uniquely personal investment in the future of Ethiopia. Dr. Liesl Riddle, Associate Professor of International Business and International Affairs at the George Washington University School of Business, noted that diaspora investment was “qualitatively different” from much foreign investment because of their added motivation to give back to their community.

The first panel, chaired by Dr. Riddle, featured Assefa, Dr. Elizabeth Chakao from the George Washington University Department of Geography and Thomas Debass, USAID Senior Advisor for Remittances & Diaspora, who joined the second panel. Panelists discussed recent developments in Ethiopia’s economy and its place in the developing world from an academic perspective, as well as the experience of international development and private sector experts on policy and best practice issues.

The second group addressed opportunities, advantages, and challenges that investors and international development agencies must address the Ethiopian business climate. Several panelists drew from their own experiences investing in Ethiopia. Chaired by Assefa, the second panel featured Manny Amare, Altour.com; Michael Gizaw, Managing Director for Africa, New Frontier Capital; Bob Rabatsky of Fintrac, which works to foster growth in Ethiopia’s Agribusiness economy; and Addis Alemayehou, Chief of Party for the VEGA African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) + project, a USAID program.

Although, coffee has long dominated the nation’s export economy, it has recently made room for flourishing sectors. Both panels identified areas of recent and potential growth in the rapidly evolving Ethiopian economy. This growth has largely been aided by the success of the ongoing federal AGOA project, and later the VEGA AGOA+ project in Ethiopia. AGOA has eased trade regulations for countries such as Ethiopia that do not have a Free Trade Agreement with the United States. The mission of VEGA AGOA+ is to equip Ethiopia entrepreneurs with necessary skills to take advantage of the various economic opportunities that AGOA provides. AGOA+ serves to encourage exports and support broad-based economic growth. Both projects facilitate growth for various industries such as cut flowers, honey, textiles, and other non-oil goods. With double digit GDP growth over the past four years, the IMF has categorized Ethiopia as the fastest growing non-oil economy in Africa.

Along with the recent success, panelists candidly discussed the challenges Ethiopia faces as a brand. According to Alemayehou, Diaspora investors can serve not only as agents for the growth of Ethiopia’s private sector, but also as facilitators for the nation’s rebranding. “We have one of the worst brands in the world,” he said, “the name Ethiopia is synonymous with war, famine, HIV, you name it. You can b e the ambassadors of Ethiopia.”

But despite the challenges, panelists were hopeful about Ethiopia’s economic future. “I think we are at a unique moment in Ethiopian history where things can really happen,” said Assefa of the flourishing business environment and opportunities for growth, which he noted have improved exponentially in the past decade. “If you want to move your country forward you have to play the economic game, and this is an opportunity in this day and age for us to make a difference.”

One of the added benefits of the conference was that it brought together men and women of the Diaspora with an expressed desire to invest. Noting this opportunity for partnership, Alemayehou encouraged the attendees to work together on their endeavors in Ethiopia. “Individually you can’t go far. Ethiopia’s a hard place to do business,” he said, “you need to work in teams.”

Many attendees stayed after the program ended to discuss investment with panelists and one another. "A lot of those who approached me were investors, who were thinking of investing or already are there and thinking of expanding their operations and needed assistance,” said Debass after the event. Debass considered the conference a success, and noted that he would like to see more in the future. “People were very engaged and serious,” he said, “I hope [the organizers] continue to explore different models of these types of conferences and different engagements, and broaden its scope, and I hope that broadening it will not dilute it.”