Ethiopia’s Finance Minister Engages in Productive Bilateral Talks with Officials from US State Department

​​​​​​Addis Ababa, April 29, 2025 (ENA)—The Finance Minister of Ethiopia Ahmed Shide and the Ethiopian Ambassador to the United States, Binalef Andualem, held productive bilateral discussions with officials from the US State Department today.

On the sidelines of the 2025 WB-IMF Spring Meetings, the discussion brought together US State Department officials including Ambassador Troy Fitrell, Senior Bureau Official leading the Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs and Vincent D. Spera, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, ENA learned.

Finance Minister Ahmed Shide briefed the US officials on Ethiopia’s strong economic outlook and opportunities, the government’s efforts to address the challenging global situations and uncertainties, as well as on the progress of the Government’s macroeconomic reform.

 Particularly, Minister Ahmed elaborated the market liberalization measures and policies adopted for enhancing the business climate to attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

On their part, the US officials commended the achievements of the reform, particularly with respect to Ethiopia’s efforts in building fiscal resilience through sound macroeconomic management and fostering more favorable business climate overall.

Additionally, the US officials acknowledged the strong policy alignment of the two countries with respect to deepening bilateral trade and promoting US business investment in Ethiopia.

Moreover, the officials encouraged Ethiopia to collaborate with US financial institutions such as the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and US EXIM Bank, to explore various financing options and tools available, including blended financing, to scale up trade and investment opportunities for private US companies in Ethiopia.

The two sides agreed to work jointly with all the relevant institutions, including the US Treasury, the US Department of Commerce, and the State Department and their Ethiopian counterparts, to deepen US-Ethiopia trade, development finance, and investment partnerships in strategic areas of mutual interest for the two nations.