ADDIS ABABA — Private Chinese investment to Ethiopia worth $269.4 million has been commissioned since the start of 2017, an Ethiopian official said on Dec 20.

Mekonen Hailu, Communications Director at Ethiopia Investment Commission, said 68 Chinese projects became operational and 41 entered final implementation phase in the first 11 months of the year.

“The biggest number of Chinese investment to Ethiopia has been in the manufacturing sector, followed by construction, real estate, consultancy and other sectors,” he added.

He further said private Chinese firms’ investment is the single largest foreign direct investment source to Ethiopia in 2017 with investment from Indian and Dutch firms following in second and third positions.

China is already Ethiopia’s largest trading partner, with trade volume between the two nations reaching $6 billion in 2015.