Investment – Ethiopian Investment Holdings

Sectors We Invest In: Building Ethiopia’s Future

Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) is at the heart of Ethiopia’s economic transformation, investing in sectors that drive national growth and prosperity. Guided by Ethiopia’s 10 Year Development Plan, EIH’s investments spans the nation’s most vital and priority sectors:

Agriculture & Food Security

Enhancing productivity and resilience in Ethiopia’s agricultural backbone.

Manufacturing & Industrialisation

Powering job creation and value addition for a globally competitive economy.

Mining & Processing

Unlocking Ethiopia’s rich natural resources for domestic use and export.

Transport & Logistics

Developing world-class infrastructure to connect markets and boost trade.

Real Estate & Tourism

Creating vibrant urban spaces and hospitality destinations that showcase Ethiopia’s unique heritage

Energy

Investing in renewables, petroleum, and power distribution to secure the nation’s energy future.

Health Services

Advancing hospitals, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare infrastructure for a healthier Ethiopia.

ICT & Technology

Accelerating digital transformation and supporting Ethiopia’s dynamic tech startup ecosystem.

Our Model

How We Design Our Investments

EIH takes a strategic, insight-driven approach to investment:

Each sector is evaluated through a rigorous investment thesis that identifies key constraints and opportunities for growth.
We actively monitor global trends and emerging technologies to ensure our investments are future-ready and globally competitive.

From flagship ambitious infrastructure projects and startup support, EIH’s investments are designed to unlock Ethiopia’s full potential and create lasting value for generations to come.

How We Categorizes Our Investments

In the identified sectors Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) classifies its investments into three main types: greenfield, brownfield, and divestments-to effectively drive growth, optimize assets, and foster private sector participation.

Greenfield Investments

These are new projects developed from scratch, allowing EIH to enter untapped markets and introduce innovative technologies with full design flexibility.

Brownfield Investments

This involves upgrading or expanding existing enterprises to improve efficiency, scale operations, and leverage established infrastructure and workforce.

Divestments

EIH uses divestments to sell partial or full ownership of assets, attracting private investment and promoting competition and innovation in the economy.

What Vehicles Does EIH Use?

Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) uses a diverse suite of investment vehicles tailored to the unique needs of each business and the risk-return expectations of its investors and partners. These vehicles enable EIH to attract capital, share risks, and leverage expertise effectively across its portfolio.

Joint Ventures

EIH partners with domestic and international investors to co-own and collaboratively manage projects, combining resources and expertise to accelerate growth and innovation.

Sub-Funds

Targeted investment funds are established under EIH’s umbrella to focus on specific sectors or themes, allowing for specialized management and attracting sector-focused investors.

Co-Investment Platforms

EIH creates platforms that enable it to co-invest alongside global and local investors, sharing risks and amplifying capital deployment in priority sectors.

Capital Markets

EIH accesses Ethiopia’s securities exchange and other capital markets to raise funds through instruments such as bonds and equity offerings, expanding financing options and enhancing liquidity.

Investment Considerations

Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) uses the following essential criteria to select investments that maximize strategic impact, institutional fit, and commercial success:

Strategic Considerations

EIH targets investments that address critical economic constraints aligned with Ethiopia’s 10-year National Development Plan, focusing on sectors that promote food security, import substitution, foreign exchange generation, trade competitiveness, energy security, and job creation, while ensuring projects have significant scale and growth potential. EIH also integrates global trends and emerging technologies to identify transformative opportunities and develops clear investment theses to drive structural impact.

Institutional Considerations

EIH prioritizes projects where its role is well-defined and matches its mandate, assessing whether the project’s complexity and resource needs align with EIH’s internal capabilities and the expertise of its portfolio companies; in high-risk sectors unattractive to private investors, EIH acts as a de-risking partner to catalyze further investment.

Commercial Considerations

Every project must deliver risk-adjusted returns above EIH’s hurdle rate, which reflects cost of capital, industry benchmarks, and opportunity costs, with robust risk mitigation plans to protect commercial viability.

Investment Process

Once an investment project has been selected, it passes along the following process:

Idea Generation

Investment ideas at EIH come from diverse sources including internal teams, portfolio companies, government bodies, and key stakeholders like the Macroeconomic Committee. EIH screens opportunities against its strategic, institutional, and commercial criteria to ensure alignment with national development goals. Subsidiaries play a vital role by flagging potential investments, especially those that scale existing businesses, optimize underutilized assets, or fill market gaps. Ideas may also arise outside subsidiaries but still align with EIH’s long-term wealth creation and economic development objectives.

Investor Origination

EIH identifies and evaluates potential investment partners through a rigorous selection process, including Know Your Customer (KYC) checks and detailed due diligence, sometimes with external advisors. Preferred investors have proven global experience in similar projects, strong financial capacity, and a track record of responsible investment with adherence to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. EIH looks for strategic alignment, sector expertise, long-term partnership potential, and experience operating in Africa or similar markets.

Business Case Development

EIH’s investment team conducts thorough market and global best-practice analyses to shape each project’s business case, defining the ideal investment vehicle, capital needs, and potential partners. Using standardized templates and institutional benchmarks-covering factors like inflation, growth, and exchange rates-EIH builds detailed financial models and compares expected returns against industry standards. The resulting business case expands on the initial concept, outlining market size, investment structure, ownership shares, target customers, timelines, and resource plans to ensure the project’s bankability and strategic fit.

Term Sheet Negotiation

EIH's investment team, supported by the Head of Legal and Compliance, negotiates term sheets with potential investors, using EIH's standard template as a starting point. The term sheet outlines key deal terms, investment structure, governing law, and risk allocation. Negotiations involve iterative discussions to align interests and address project-specific requirements. The Head of Legal determines if an investor's template can be used instead of EIH's. The goal is to establish clear, mutually agreeable terms that pave the way for a successful investment partnership.

Due Diligence and Feasibility Study

EIH conducts a comprehensive assessment to validate the business case and confirm project bankability, utilizing primary data, expert interviews, and field visits. This includes a refined feasibility study detailing technical, financial, and commercial specifications. A thorough due diligence of potential investors is also undertaken, leveraging external advisors across technical, legal, accounting, and market research disciplines. The aim is to secure independent confirmation of key assumptions and ensure the project's commercial viability before proceeding.

Shareholder Agreement and Closing

Once EIH and its investment partners agree on the term sheet and the CEO approves the validated feasibility study, a shareholder agreement is negotiated and signed to comply with Ethiopia’s Commercial Code, Investment Law, and other legal requirements. This process is co-led by the Head of Legal and Compliance, using EIH’s standard shareholder agreement template unless an alternative is accepted. The final stage includes the CEO signing the SHA, fulfilling conditions precedent, legally registering the venture, disbursing capital, and appointing management and board members per the SHA, officially launching the partnership.

EIH’s Value Proposition

Extensive Networks

EIH Subsidiaries operators in almost all sectors with invaluable market insights.

Strategic Partner

EIH is working very closely with various Ministries and regulators, making it a lot easier to expedite the implementation of projects.

De-risking

Partner that offers finance and project development support

Clear, predictable and flexible Process

Success Stories

We have a successful diverse portfolio of investment projects at various stages of development, jointly developed with foreign investors from around the world.

Establishment of Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX)

Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) played a pivotal role in establishing the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX), launched in January 2025 as a landmark achievement in Ethiopia’s financial sector modernization. As the founding shareholder with a 100% public stake in its initial stage and currently with a 25% stake, EIH partnered with the government and private investors to create a transparent and efficient capital market platform. The ESX is set to revolutionize Ethiopia’s economy by improving access to capital, fostering investment-led growth, and supporting private sector expansion, marking a historic milestone in the country’s journey toward economic liberalization and sustainable development.

Security Printing Collaboration with Japan's Toppan Gravity

In partnership with Japan's Toppan Gravity, EIH has established a security printing company called Toppan Security Ethiopia. This joint venture, Toppan Gravity Ethiopia, also includes EIH Subsidiary companies, namely Ethiopian entities such as Berhan ena Selam Printing Enterprise and Educational Materials Production and Distribution Enterprise as shareholders. The facility aims to produce passports, national IDs, ATM cards, and other secure documents, contributing to import substitution and enhancing Ethiopia's digital infrastructure.

Integrated Dairy and Commercial Farming Project with UK's Asset Green

EIH, along with its subsidiary company, the Ethiopian Agricultural Works Corporation, signed a $600 million shareholders' agreement with the UK's Asset Green Company to establish an Integrated Dairy and Commercial Farming Project. This initiative, to be implemented in two phases, will first focus on developing a world-class dairy farming and processing operation on 15,000 hectares. The second phase plans to expand into commercial farming of cotton, oilseeds, and rice, complemented by advanced processing facilities and an out-grower's support center to enhance value addition and market competitiveness.

Ethiopian Investment Holdings

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Contact

+251(0)111 70 45 40

info@eih.et

General Winget St, Hilcoe Building 5th floor, Addis Ababa ,Ethiopia