Ethiopia asks Switzerland for its banking know-how
Ethiopia has called on Switzerland to share its expertise and "experience" in the banking and financial sectors with the African nation. The president, Negasso Gidada, made the comments after receiving letters of introduction from the new Swiss ambassador to Addis Abeba, René Schaetti.
Negasso also appealed to Swiss businesses to look into the possibilities for investment in Ethiopia, according to a spokesman at the Ethiopian foreign ministry.
In January 1998, Addis Ababa requested Swiss judicial aid during its investigations into allegations of abuse of power, embezzlement and corruption by the former prime minister, Tamerat Layne.
Tamerat began serving an 18-year prison sentence in October 1996.
At the beginning of June, a Swiss chargé d’affaire to Ethiopia, Christina Siegrist, was shot twice in the head by a maintenance worker at the Swiss embassy in the capital. Belay Kabede’s contract was terminated four months before it was due to expire because of unsatisfactory work.
Siegrist was flown to hospital in Geneva.
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