When Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed departed for his first official state visit outside of Africa in May 2018 he did not travel to Washington, London or Beijing but to Riyadh, the Saudi capital, before heading to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. That was followed by a trip to the Qatari capital Doha and return visits to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, all within his first year in office.
That Mr Abiy eschewed the traditional global centres of capital by heading instead to the Middle East was symbolic of the new freedom enjoyed by African governments to choose sources of foreign direct investment, as competition for opportunities in Africa’s fast-growing economies intensifies.
Largely dependent on government-backed investment from China for much of the past decade, Mr Abiy, since coming to power in 2018, has promised to liberalise Ethiopia’s economy and open various sectors to new sources of foreign investment.