As the Ethiopian government seeks to transform the economy into one that’s rooted in manufacturing, the simplicity for local investors to access finance is becoming easier said than done. That’s because banks have made it complicated to access loans to start businesses because they rely much on technical knowhow and skills to approve requests for financing that many local business owners don’t possess. As the result, it is the foreign investors who are tapping the available financial resources in government banks. This has further crippled the weak and fragile local private sector. EBR’s Berihun Mekonnen reports that government should work in building the capacity of the local investors to access finance. It should also encourage the way foreigners invest in the country to be more in the form of joint venture with local investors. Such approaches in the early 1980s helped local investors in South East Asia to learn important business skills from international investors.