Addis Ababa University announced the establishment of the first international business school in Ethiopia along with an international business innovation center on May 4, 2016 at Ghion Hotel.

The establishment of the two institutions, Ethio-European International Business School (EEIBS) and the Ethio-European Business Innovation Center (EEBIC), is funded by the European Union in partnership with the Government of Ethiopia under the Transformation Triggering Facility (TTF) project.

Accompanied by relevant Ethiopian Ministers, AAU officials and the Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union to Ethiopia, Director of the business school, Professor Upkar Pardesi announced that the two institutions will be established under the College of Business and Economics of Addis Ababa University.

The Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union to Ethiopia, Mrs. Terhi Lehtinen, said on the occasion that qualified managers and dynamic leaders are needed for the country’s rapid development. She went on to say that the establishment of the first International Business School in the country is in response to the challenges that Ethiopia has been experiencing during its rapid economic transformation. She further noted that it also marks a milestone for Ethio-European cooperation.

Ahmed Shide, State Minister for Finance and Economic Cooperation, pointed out that the Business Innovation Center will promote partnerships between public and private organizations as it would help recently established high-tech companies with growth potential to access innovation coaching, knowledge and technology transfer and vocational training in innovative business management.

Professor Upkar Pardesi, Director of the Business School, disclosed that the program will temporarily be located in the School of Commerce’s new building. The AAU will start the first full-time, part time and distance learning MBA programs in partnership with UK universities from October 2016 with other post graduate programmes to be launched in 2017 in partnership with Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands and Martin Luther University in Germany.

The AAU College of Business and Economics will be the home of a state of the art new building to accommodate the Business School and Innovation Center. The construction will begin in 2017 with plans to make it fully operational by 2020.