Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), the sovereign wealth manager overseeing Ethiopia’s state-owned enterprises, announced a record performance for the 2017 financial year, posting revenues of 2.05 trillion birr and 262.7 billion birr in pre-tax profit—an 88% year-on-year increase.
Sectoral Highlights
EIH’s diversified portfolio of strategic enterprises showed robust growth across industries:
- Ethio Telecom: Voice subscribers grew by 7%, while internet users expanded by 15%.
- Commercial Bank of Ethiopia: Deposits surged by 310%, and loans to the private sector increased by 104%.
- Ethiopian Airlines: Passenger traffic climbed by 11%.
- Ethiopian Electric Service: Power supply rose by 18.2% in gigawatt hours.
- Ethiopian Agricultural Works Corporation: Fertilizer distribution rose 18%.
- Wenji Sugar Factory: Sugar output more than doubled, increasing by 113%.
In terms of profitability, transport and logistics dominated with 66.8% of pre-tax profits, followed by financial services (14.95%), energy and communication (10.08%), agriculture and agro-processing (2.64%), and trade (2.02%).
Reform-Driven Momentum
EIH credited Ethiopia’s ongoing macro-economic reforms for creating an enabling environment, allowing state-owned enterprises to strengthen capacity, improve efficiency, and increase competitiveness. The organization emphasized its role in enforcing modern corporate governance standards, financial discipline, and strategic oversight across its portfolio.
Future Outlook
Looking ahead, EIH has set ambitious targets for the 2018 financial year:
- Revenue goal: 2.75 trillion birr
- Profit before tax: 412 billion birr
To achieve these, EIH outlined key priorities:
- Enhancing quality and competitiveness of products and services
- Securing diverse financing sources and modernizing production and service delivery
- Strengthening financial soundness and sustainable growth
- Investing in human capital, digitalization, and governance reforms
- Improving workplace conditions, accountability, and performance evaluation
EIH reaffirmed its commitment to aligning state-owned enterprises with national development goals and thanked the boards, management teams, employees, and stakeholders who contributed to the strong 2017 results.
