Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn to open The Economist Events’ Ethiopia Summit

The Economist Events is pleased to announce that His Excellency Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia has been confirmed to speak at the Ethiopia Summit to be held on October 28th and 29th, 2015 at the Sheraton Hotel in Addis Ababa.

Having wrapped up its five year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) that saw agricultural exports grow by 9% in the first three quarters of 2013/2014 and the manufacturing sector grow by 11.4% in the same period, Ethiopia is now launching its second five year plan. The Ethiopia Summit will be taking place at the opportune time to explore what more can be done to help the country achieve its full potential in alignment with its solid economic growth.

Organised under the theme “Driving continued growth” the summit will bring together more than 150 of the country’s leading policy-makers and business leaders with international executives active or interested in expanding in Ethiopia to explore opportunities and tackle challenges including: What are Ethiopia’s future growth prospects? Is the state-led development model sustainable?  What are the challenges currently faced by the private sector? What opportunities exist for private equity firms looking to enter the Ethiopian market?

Along with His Excellency Prime Minister Desalegn, the summit will feature speakers and panelists from government and industry including (continue after the cut):


•          HE Dr Arkebe Oqubay, Minister and Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

•          Greg Dorey, British Ambassador to Ethiopia and British Permanent Representative to the African Union and UN Economic Commission for Africa

•          Tewolde GebreMariam, Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines

•          Haddis Tadesse, Country Representative, Ethiopia and Representative to the African Union, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

•          Reg Hankey, Chief Executive Officer, Pittards

•          Francis Agbonlahor, Managing Director, Meta Abo Brewery Share Company, Diageo

•          Rana Sengupta, Vice-president, Africa Emerging Markets and Customer Development, Africa Business and Managing Director, Ethiopia, Unilever

•          Brian Herlihy, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, BlackRhino

•          Tewodros Ashenafi, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, SouthWest Energy

•          Andualem Admassie, Chief Executive Officer, Ethio Telecom

•          Fitsum Arega, Director General, Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC)

•          Munir Duri, Chief Executive Officer, Kifiya

•          Mayur Kothari, Founder and Chairman, Mohan Group of Companies

•          Sergei Stankovski, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

•          Gabriel Negatu, Regional Director for Eastern Africa , African Development Bank

Follow the Ethiopia Summit via @EconomistEvents #EthiopiaSummit on Twitter to get the latest updates, submit your questions, and join in with discussions on the day.