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Mohammed Ali Al-Amoudi was pivotal in the
preparation and organisation of both the Saudi-East
African Forum, which took place at the United
Nations Conference Centre (UNCC), and the
corresponding exhibition at the Millennium Hall,
spending 30 million Br renovating the hall.
The renovation included asphalting the surface of
the compound as well as refurbishing the interior.
He built the Millennium Hall on Africa Avenue (Bole
Road) for the Ethiopian Millennium at a cost of 10
million dollars (90 million Br, according to the
exchange rate of the time).
The Saudi delegation,
which included Abdullah bin Ahmed Zainal Alireza,
minister of Commerce and Industry and three other
Saudi ministers, had representatives from 50 large
Saudi companies. On the other end were
representatives from seven African countries,
including Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, President
Ismail Guelleh of Djibouti and Somali President
Sharif Ahmed including, Paul Kagame, president of
Rwanda.
Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda were represented
by top government officials. The forum brought
together 680 delegates from both sides, excluding
the Ethiopian participants.
These representatives were lodged at the Sheraton,
Hilton, Intercontinental and Wasamar hotels.
The 50 Saudi companies and Ethiopian regional
investment bureaus were represented at the
exhibition, the latter to showcase the suitability
for investment of their respective regions. One
participant was Saudi Star Agricultural Development
Plc, established by Al-Amoudi following the green
light from Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz
to supply the Middle Eastern country with rice. This
happened after Al-Amoudi had presented rice samples
to the king.
This company, through which Al-Amoudi sponsored the
Saudi-East Africa Forum, was promoting itself at the
exhibition as the first rice farm in Ethiopia.
Sources close to Al-Amoudi said that the king has
shown an interest in seeing other Saudi companies
involved in rice farming after seeing the samples
presented by Al-Amoudi, who is said to have been
asked to facilitate the process. Accordingly, the
Al-Amoudi is said to have spoken with and gained the
support of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
“The global food crisis is the raison d’ętre
of King Abdullah’s agricultural initiative. Saudi
Arabia is committed not only to combating hunger,
providing support for the host country, but
also to generate exports,” said Minister Abdullah in
his speech.
Ethiopia has 74 million hectares of land that is
said to be suitable for agriculture out of its total
area of 111.5 million hectares. However, less than
15 million hectares is currently in use.
“We have vast land resources and a lot of water
resources. If investors with potential come, we will
give them land,” said Aberra Deressa(PhD), state
minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The Investors Support Directorate, which he heads,
is responsible for giving large tracts of land to
investors.
“Most Saudi investments [in Ethiopia] have been in
the manufacturing and hospitality sectors. This has
been the focus so far, but we expect a sizeable
increase in the kingdom’s investment in agriculture
as a result of its decision to invest in cereals,”
said Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in a recent
interview with Arab News.
The Saudi minister said that the king himself had
taken the initiative to see more work done in
agriculture and agro-processing investments, with
billions of dollars likely to be allocated from the
Saudi government, the Islamic Development Bank and
other sources.
A
number of countries have for sometime now been
taking land in other poorer countries to grow food
for their own people. Among such countries are
Russia, China and India.
The Saudi minister says that his country’s approach
is different, including using some of the products
for host market uses. He also said that his country
would finance infrastructure projects in host
countries through credit provided by the Saudi
Development Fund and other institutions.
The delegation had one-on-one talks with the Prime
Minister, Minister of Trade and Industry Girma Birru
and other top government officials after the forum
and exhibition were completed.
This official said that the delegates were not very
satisfied with the banking and customs system in
Ethiopia as well as the infrastructure development
at industrial zones in Ethiopia. He added that stiff
competition is expected from Rwanda, which has been
named the world’s top performer in the World Bank’s
Doing Business 2010 report.
Ethiopia can still expect to sign a number of
investment agreements with the kingdom some time
soon, according to the same source. |
