United States Secretary of State, John Kerry has praised the rapid economic development underway in Ethiopia. He was in Addis Ababa last week to have talks with Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalegn on several bilateral and regional issues, including the conflict in South Sudan.

“I think it’s fair to say that Ethiopia, in terms of its economy and in other ways, is really on the move, and it is a place that is generating enormous energy. All you have to do is drive through Addis, as I have several times in the last hours, and you see the economic activity, you can see the numbers of cranes and construction that is taking place, and it provides a snapshot of the country’s rapid development. It is no wonder that Ethiopia is one of the eight African economies that is one of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world,” Kerry said during a news conference.

He said the US remains committed to supporting Ethiopia’s growing prosperity.

“We do that because strong commercial ties and this rate of development are critical to having shared prosperity, critical to providing opportunity to the broad population, and they also it helps to provide stability and helps to provide the capacity for Ethiopia to be able to lead in some of the other initiatives that are so critical to stability in the region,” he said.

Source: East African Business Week

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