McKinsey & Company to open an office in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – McKinsey & Company, one of the most prestigious consultancy firms in the world specializing in management industry, is to open its office in Ethiopia, reported the English bi-weekly the Ethiopian Reporter.

Headquartered in the Greater New York City area, McKinsey & Company is a firm known for the first recourse advice when business woes strike developed and developing countries.

The company runs its consultancy in business technology, corporate finance, marketing and sales, operations, organizations, risk, strategy, and sustainability and resource productivity in industry and service at most.

According to sources, McKinsey & Company is heading to Ethiopia and tap into the escalating market opportunities in industrial, services and agricultural sectors. Though the specific time of arrival is not yet known, the company is set to open its office here since Ethiopia is attracting foreign investors who want invest in agro-industry from India, China, Turkey and other western and developing countries as well, sources said.

“Ethiopia is a country which is revolutionizing its agro-industry by inviting foreign investors and this has attracted other investors and consultancy firms,” Zemedeneh Negatu, managing partner of Ernest and Young, told The Reporter.

“So there is a wide range of opportunities for consultancy firms like McKinsey & Company and others to tap into Ethiopia and join the growing market of the country,” Zemedeneh, who said that he has no information regarding the opening of the office, added.

A study made by the company on sustainability and resource productivity in November last year, which is titled “Resource Revolution: Meeting the World’s energy, materials, food and water needs”, stated that ensuring that the entire agriculture value chain works is necessary so that improvements in one area of the system, such as increased yields, are not constrained by a lack of connections to market and export.

The study added that Ethiopia’s latest acceleration of agricultural development is based on an integrated portfolio of projects in five priority areas. These are enhancing frontline productivity; improving the structure of the industry to develop strong public and private actors in priority value chains; scaling up the development of sustainable irrigation; adopting a sustainable approach to preserving and expanding cultivated land; putting in place an effective enabling environment including access to finance, the development of necessary infrastructure, the innovative use of communication and technology, and building human capacity in the public sector.

McKinsey & Company, established in 1926, currently has 15,000 employees. Its customers include some of the bluest-chip companies in the world, such as PepsiCo, AT&T, GE, IBM and General Motors Corps.

Source: Ethiopian Reporter