Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated late on state TV that Ethiopia intends to enact legislation allowing foreigners to buy real estate as part of the nation’s larger strategy to open up the economy and draw investors, according to Reuters.
Ethiopia currently prohibits foreigners from owning residential or commercial real estate, which is considered as a barrier to continued efforts to draw in international investment to the Horn of Africa nation.
According to State TV, Abiy announced that his government was finalizing a new law that would allow foreigners to acquire real estate property during a meeting of influential taxpayers in the capital Addis Ababa. However, he did not specify when the legislation would be tabled in parliament.
He stated, “We intend to amend existing laws to open up the country’s retail sector, which is currently restricted to Ethiopians only.” “We will introduce a law which will allow foreigners to own property,” he said.
The economy was closed, but we are going to open it up a little bit now. Thus, we also want you to be prepared,” he stated.
Abiy’s government has been allowing foreign investment in previously strictly controlled sectors of the economy, like banking and telecommunications, in recent years as part of an effort to increase foreign capital inflows to spur economic growth and generate employment for the nation of over 100 million people.