Ethiopia's transition to a democratic form of government in 1991 paved the way for large scale private sector growth. The Government of Ethiopia has been privatizing state-owned industry and implementing market-based economic policies to attract foreign investment and trade, yet inadequate management of economic and development policy continues to impede progress.
The Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce (ECC) is holding a series of nine Business and Economic Development Roundtables in Addis Ababa and three other cities to promote public-private sector dialogue on issues of economic reform, public policymaking, and governance.
Upwards of 2,000 people are expected to participate in these sessions, which promote business community involvement in public policy debates and encourage public-private cooperation for sustained economic growth. Information from the program has already reached some 550,000 newspaper readers, 5.4 million radio listeners, and 650,000 television viewers.
The ECC is a non-governmental, non-profit, and non-partisan umbrella group consisting of 11 regional chambers representing approximately 35,000 members.
The role of the ECC is to: 1) support businesses by providing information and services; 2) provide technical assistance, training, and research to improve the quality of economic activity; and 3) advocate for and mobilize private sector involvement in the decision-making process.