The Ethiopian Investment Holdings was by a decree of the Council of Ministers, where the Prime Minister chairs a board of directors of six. Mamo was among the “young liberal technocrats” with international experience to join Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s (Ph.D.) administration.
Mamo was appointed as founding CEO due to over 16 years of experience in economic policy, legal, & logistics sector reforms. Mamo received his BA in law at Addis Ababa University and completed a post-graduate program for law at Pretoria and Amsterdam universities. He also took leadership and economic development courses at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Mamo led the World Bank’s work in Ethiopia in finance, competitiveness, and trade for eight years (2010-2018). He served in the PMO, chiefly negotiating trade matters like the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Mamo will aid the state-owned investment company to bring on 24 state-owned enterprises (SOEs). These include state-owned assets & enterprises, share companies & financial institutions, land & properties under state ownership, other tangible & intangible assets in which the federal government has stakes.
EIH is currently preparing portfolio management to identify which enterprises to take on during the first phase of operations. Blen Mammo, the Senior Economic Advisor at the Ministry of Finance, stated that the EIH is designed to be a sovereign wealth fund and refers to 10 similar funds in Africa to improve its performance.
