Ethiopia: ‘We Are Committed to Fostering More Business Partnerships With Ethiopia’ – Ambassador Sinikka Anttila

Today’s guest is Ambassador Sinikka Anttila, Ambassador of Finland to Ethiopia. She has had a long career in the Finnish diplomatic service and has experience working in various regions of Africa, including West Africa, Southern Africa, East Africa, and now here in Ethiopia.

She began her career as a young officer in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) many years ago. Her first ambassadorial post was in Namibia, where she served as a counselor for Finland. Following that, she served as an ambassador in Zambia before moving on to Tanzania. Prior to her current position, she spent four years as the European Union Ambassador to Namibia from 2019 to 2023.

Throughout her career, she has held various positions within the Finnish Ministry and has worked extensively with the private sector in Africa. During her time in Finland, she served as a thematic ambassador for trade and development, focusing on bringing business delegations to different African countries, including Ethiopia.

In her previous role, she worked closely with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, and Development–a combined portfolio that has been a long-standing tradition in Finland. During her brief stay with the Ethiopian Press Agency, Ambassador Sinikka Anttila raised a range of issues focused on bilateral and multilateral ties between Ethiopia and Finland. Enjoy the read!

How do you perceive the implementation of homegrown economic reform in Ethiopia?

I may not know all the details, but I believe it is essential for Ethiopia’s growth and development to encourage a high level of involvement from private enterprises and create jobs for many citizens. This initiative aims to provide business opportunities and foster entrepreneurship in Ethiopia for the benefit of many Ethiopians, and we are here to provide support to make it effective.

The Ethiopian government has opened doors for international businesses like Safaricom, a private company. This is a bold step as opening up the economy is crucial for the country’s overall development. The country has shown its commitment by opening up the telecommunications sector, allowing Safaricom to collaborate with Ethiopia Telecom. Finland’s Nokia, a strategic partner for Safaricom, also works with Ethiopia Telecom. This collaboration is significant.

Expanding the financial sector and other areas, as mentioned by the investment commissioner, will further promote private entrepreneurship and job creation. With 70% of the population under 30 years old, many of them unemployed, opening economic doors for international businesses is significant to address this issue. Development partners are ready to collaborate with Ethiopia on this endeavor.

How do you assess the bilateral relation and development cooperation between the two countries?

We have a very strong and long-standing cooperation. Last year, we celebrated 65 years of diplomatic relations together. Our cooperation has primarily focused on long-term development projects in areas such as education, water supply, agriculture, and more. This longstanding partnership has built a solid foundation for strong people-to-people relations.

We believe that collaboration should not be limited to the public sector alone. It is essential for the public sector, private sector, civil societies, non-governmental organizations, and academia to work together. Some of the most prominent Finnish non-governmental organizations, such as Finnish Church Aid, Finnish Evangelical Mission, Finnish Red Cross, and Solidarity, have been actively involved in Ethiopia for over 30 years. Their presence has greatly contributed to the success of our cooperation efforts.

What kind of collaboration is there between your Nokia, Ethiotelecom and Safaricom?

Well, it’s in the field of telecommunications. Nokia itself is a telecommunications company. I don’t know the specifics, but it’s a strategic partnership. Is it about telecommunications infrastructure or more broadly about your ambitious plans for digitalization? This is an area where Nokia and others are eager to work with you, as well as within the European Union.

There are plans in place, and we are excited to be a part of the Team Europe and Global Gateway programs that are currently being developed. These programs receive funding from European Union institutions, as well as possibly from member states like ours, through Development Finance Institutions. For example, we have Fin-Fund, which is a public development finance institution that supports private sector initiatives. In the Team Europe and Global Gateway initiatives, we combine resources from both European Union institutions and member states to create larger, more comprehensive packages. We are looking forward to being a part of this.

Ethiopia is currently implementing projects such as corridor development, expanding tourist destinations like Entoto Unity and Friendship Parks. What are your observations?

In addition to Green’s legacy, I believe environmental protection, preventing deforestation, planting trees, and cleaning the environment are crucial. It seems like there are still issues with air quality and pollution, especially in big cities like Addis, as well as concerns about water resources. These are essential considerations due to climate change, and preparation is necessary.

Regarding Addis Ababa, having parks is beneficial. I personally visit a park every Sunday to walk my dog, appreciating the cleaner air and greenery. However, I hope there is a forest management plan in place to ensure responsible tree cutting. In Finland, we have strict laws where if one tree is cut, two must be planted, resulting in a clean environment. We are willing to assist Ethiopia in similar efforts.

Private sector involvement is also crucial in preserving nature and combating climate change, as they possess the necessary technologies and innovations. It’s positive to see Ethiopia’s ambitious plans, such as transitioning to electric vehicles to reduce carbon emission in urban areas like Addis. Green transition is a priority for Finland and the European Union, and we fully support Ethiopia’s goals in this area. Collaboration in this field is essential for our mutual success.

Trade exchange is one area of cooperation between the two countries. Could you share the information regarding this?

Finland and Ethiopia have trade relations though they need to work more in that. As figures told more than words, let me figure out the trade volume between the two showing last year’s reports. Import from Ethiopia to Finland was 4.4 million Euros, and export from Finland to Ethiopia was 8.6 million Euros, resulting in a deficit. Finland is importing more products from Ethiopia than Ethiopia is exporting.

There is definitely room for improvement in this area. We need to work on creating more business partnerships to address this issue. I remember coming here with a large business delegation in 2018, but the war in the north in 2020-2022 may have scared away many businesses.

Two Finnish companies, Nokia and Vaisala, are already operating in Ethiopia. Vaisala specializes in high-tech weather radar systems and is working on a project with the Ethiopian Meteorological Services. I hope that we can inaugurate this project later this year.

Ethiopia imports various equipments includes technology and machinery from Finland, while Ethiopia exports coffee and cut flowers. Finland and Ethiopia are both mining countries, and there has been some cooperation between our geological services in the past. I have a task to explore this further. Good governance in mining is crucial to prevent environmental damage, and the Finnish geological survey has experience working globally, including in Africa. I am interested in exploring further cooperation in this area.

In what areas might Finnish investors engage in Ethiopia?

We need to revitalize the contacts so that they can come here and meet with your businesses to determine where the needs are, for example. I could imagine digitalization and innovations being potential areas of interest. Finland is known as one of the most innovative countries in the world, with a large startup community that attracts a significant amount of impact investor funding for their projects. I see this as an area where we could potentially work more.

Green transition is another area I mentioned. This could involve renewable energy, waste-to-energy, or other environmentally friendly initiatives. Technology is also a promising area, especially considering Ethiopia’s abundant waterways. During my travels to various African countries, I have seen technology for dredging waterways that could be used in Ethiopia as well.

At an ambassador’s conference in Finland last August, we had a day dedicated to businesses, where I represented Ethiopia. The embassy minister from Stockholm joined me, and we had a company express interest in expanding to Ethiopia. They have machinery called “water master” that can be used for dredging waterways, and they are present in many countries except Ethiopia. I believe we should invite them to come and meet with the relevant stakeholders.

By and large, there are various areas of interest for Finnish investors in Ethiopia, ranging from technology and green initiatives to innovative projects and more.

Agriculture is central to the cooperation between the two countries. Could you please tell me more on that?

Agriculture has been a key focus for us in terms of development cooperation. We had the Agribic project for 10 years in the Amhara region, and possibly in other regions as well. Currently, our focus is on land management, particularly digital land registration. This innovative system has already registered 30 million plots under the project known as REILA. The digital registration also serves as collateral for farmers to obtain loans, with 50,000 farmers already benefiting from this system. This project is a flagship initiative for us, and we are now in the fourth phase of implementation.

In addition to agriculture, our other key areas of focus are education and water supply and sanitation. Since 2017, we have invested 35 million euros in the water sector, over 30 million in education, nearly 28 million in agriculture and land management. These investments have been made over the past eight years, highlighting their importance in our development efforts.

Education is one area of cooperation between the two countries. Would you like to say a few words about that?

Sure, Finland is known for its high-quality education system. This is a focus area for us, and we work with partner countries to support inclusive education programs. We collaborate with the World Bank on a sectoral program and have a separate technical assistance program to integrate inclusiveness into larger initiatives.

As part of these efforts, we have established special education resource centers across the country to provide education for differently-disabled children. We also engage in education in emergencies, particularly in conflict-affected regions like Tigray, Oromia, North Shewa, Fuji, and Gambela. Conflict often prevents children from attending school, which is why we prioritize education in these areas.

We also work closely with the European Union on education programs, including the Team Europe initiative. Recently, we sent two Finnish education experts to work on a regional teacher training program in Africa. Education is a top priority for us.

Water and sanitation are additional areas in which the Finnish government works in Ethiopia. Could you provide a brief overview of that?

In the water sector, we are proud of the Community-led Accelerated WASH (COWASH) project. Last year, we celebrated 30 years of COWASH, a community-based, community-managed water supply project for rural areas. This project has provided access to clean drinking water for 5.4 million Ethiopians. I also visited Hawassa in the Sidama region in the south, where we walked in the highlands and met with happy communities.

These communities are responsible for building and maintaining the water points themselves, with joint funding from the government at 60% and additional support and technical knowledge from us. It was heartwarming to hear that the water points enabled children to attend school without having to climb hills for water, reducing the risk of violence and other dangers for girls.

This community-based approach extends to education, water supply, and land registration. We also provide support through a fund for local cooperation, assisting Ethiopian civil society in areas such as women’s rights and rights of people with disabilities.

The European Union and Ethiopia celebrated 50 years of cooperation recently. Would you comment in that?

This year, 2025, is significant for the EU-AU strategic partnership. We are planning to hold an EU-AU summit towards the end of the year. Our last summit took place in 2022, so it is high time for another one. We are planning to have a ministerial meeting first, followed by the summit. These meetings are crucial as we have an essential EU-Africa strategic partnership focusing on combining Africa’s resources, Africa we want, Agenda 2063, and the Millennium Development Goals. We need to update and assess our progress thus far, and Finland is fully committed to this partnership.

We believe in multilateralism and the importance of blocs like the European Union and the African Union. The internal market of the European Union allows for the free movement of goods and people, while the ambitious African Continental Free Trade Area still needs to be fully implemented. There is much we can learn from each other in these areas.

Finland, as a small country, strongly supports the United Nations, sovereignty of countries, the UN Charter, and multilateralism. Small countries benefit from working together within global bodies, despite the current turbulence in the world. It is encouraging to see that the African Union and African countries share the same beliefs in the United Nations, the African Union, and a rule-based world order. This shared foundation provides a good basis for continued cooperation between the European Union, including Finland, and Ethiopia.

How do you envision the future relationship between Ethiopia and Finland, as well as Finland and Africa as a whole?

Africa and Europe are neighboring continents, making it essential for us to collaborate. By working together in a mutually beneficial way, forming partnerships between our businesses, we can create a win-win situation for both sides. Africa has a young population, while Europe is aging, so there is a need for younger people to come and work in Europe. For example, there are Ethiopian nurses already working in Finland. By planning and working together, we can ensure a positive outcome for all involved.

Economic and political cooperation between Finland and Africa is crucial, especially in areas like fighting climate change where our interests align. Strengthening our collaboration within the United Nations will only make our efforts more effective. I believe this is the way forward, focusing on shared interests for the greater good.

Regarding Finland specifically, we are committed to fostering more business partnerships with Ethiopia. While we have engaged in development cooperation for 35 years, creating sustainable solutions through innovative technology and collaboration is key. By encouraging businesses to work together and drive innovation, we can reduce the reliance on grant financing. I am optimistic about moving in this direction for the benefit of both countries.

Thanks for your time.

It is my pleasure.