Thank for the Bob

Allana seems to be in one of the African countries seriously working on improving their economy. This link to their investment climate statement summary for 2014 actually shows just how much they have done to make it appealing to foreign investment http://photos.state.gov/libraries/ethiopia/956093/PDF%20Files/Ethiopia%202014%20Investment%20Climate%20Statement.pdf

Even if you just read the first few paragraphs I have included it points to a country with amazing growth, using an indepth five year growth plan, and having less day to day corruption than Russia. Seems like a place ICL would love to do business. Particularily the part on Tax exemption statis for 7 years. Particularily, for tax avoidance. If they took over Allana out right it could be a move like Burger King and Tims. Canada has one of the best Corporate tax structures in the world. If ICL moved its head office to Canada they could significantly improve their corporate tax situation.

Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It has registered impressive GDP

growth for several years, ranging between 6% and 12%, depending on source data. The World

Bank and IMF forecast continued average growth of 7% over the next three years. With a

population of roughly 90 million, Ethiopia is the second most populous country in sub-Saharan

Africa, after Nigeria.

The government of Ethiopia follows an integrated 5-year development plan, the Growth and

Transformation Plan (GTP), which aims to achieve 11.2 – 14.9% GDP growth annually as well

as achieve the Millennium Development Goals and attain middle-class income status by 2025.

To achieve these goals, the government is investing heavily in large-scale social, infrastructural

and energy projects.

While these developments are positive indicators for future private sector development, it

translates into the flow of significant amounts of capital into public sector projects. World Bank

estimates show that infrastructure spending requires approximately 19% of Ethiopia’s total GDP

in fiscal year 2011 – 2012.

Competitive labor and energy costs as well as the budding consumer markets are key pulls for

foreign direct investment. Current challenges to the private sector include foreign exchange

shortages and limited access to finance capital, long lead-times for inputs and exports due to the

current logistic infrastructure, and bureaucratic delays. Areas closed to foreign investment are

banking, retail, tele-communications and transportation. Businesses interested in entering the

market should focus on aligning operations to complement the overall goals of the GTP. Key

growth sectors include renewable energy, construction, tourism, textile and leather products,

tele-communication support services and products, and aviation support services and products.

The government of Ethiopia is currently working on World Trade Organization ascension with

the goal of attaining least developed country status by 2015. It is actively pursuing improving the

current investment climate through adopting more efficient bureaucratic processes in the areas of

registration, logistic, and tax processes. Key energy generation and distribution projects as well

as transportation infrastructure projects are scheduled for completion by the end of 2015