Market News

BY Dawit Endeshaw

ADDIS ABABA, May 14 (Reuters) – Ethiopia has signed investment deals for its minerals and energy sectors worth more than $1.7 billion, mostly with Chinese firms, its finance ministry said.

The East African nation, which struck a four-year, $3.4 billion program deal with the International Monetary Fund last July, is in the midst of a far-reaching reform drive, including the flotation of its birr currency and a push to complete an $8.4 billion debt restructuring with its official creditors.

The Finance Ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday that companies attending a two-day investment conference in Addis Ababa had signed agreements to bring more than $1.7 billion into the country.

The deals signed include a planned $500 million investment by Hua Ye Mining Processing Company in minerals exploration and processing, and the development of a special economic zone focused on minerals, the ministry said.

Another $600 million will come from Sequoia Mining & Processing Plc to develop coal mining projects, while another $360 million will come from Hainan Drinda New Energy Technology to build a solar cell manufacturing plant.

Another $250 million will come from CSI Solar, also for solar energy development, the ministry said.

The ministry did not give a timeframe for when the money was expected to come to Ethiopia.

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(Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Jan Harvey)