France’s Minister of Finance Bruno Le Maire arrived in Addis Ababa on Monday for a working visit to foster and diversify economic ties between the two countries.
In March 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron paid a visit to Ethiopia and signed several cooperation accords, including air cooperation and joint operations, and opportunities for training and equipment purchases.
Ethiopia and France also signed a military cooperation accord, a deal which includes helping Ethiopia build a navy.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received Mr Le Maire at his office, where they discussed the ongoing strengthening of the economic cooperation between Ethiopia and France.
Mr Le Maire conveyed France’s appreciation of steps being taken by Ethiopia, particularly to increase competitiveness and business conduciveness. The French Minister further confirmed Ethiopia as an investment destination for France.
The same day, the French delegation visited the headquarters of Ethiopian airlines, where they met with CEO Tewolde GebreMariam and the Executive Management team to discuss the areas of partnerships and cooperation between the airline and French companies.
Commenting on the areas of the discussion, H.E. Bruno Le Maire said: “The recent launch of a flight to Marseille by Ethiopian Airlines is indicative of the growing partnership between Ethiopia and France. There is a huge potential for further partnership in aviation-related areas.”
Ethiopia and France have agreed to advance their cooperation in energy, logistics and telecommunications sectors. Some 40 million Euros support will also be provided soon for Ethiopia’s digital ID project.
French Economic and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said: “President Macron last March decided with PM Abiy Ahmed to reinforce the economic relationship between our two countries, and I really want this enforcement to be as concrete and as successful as possible.”
