Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed inaugurated the country's first stock exchange in half a century on Friday, symbolically marking the launch with a Wall Street-style bell ringing ceremony.
The Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX) begins operations on January 10.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called the event a historic milestone for the country's economic and financial landscape.
The ESX, which was expected to raise 500 million birr ($4 million), raised more than 1.26 billion birr, or almost $10 million, Tilahun Kassahun, managing director of the new exchange, said in August.
The country has not had a stock exchange since 1974.
To attract investors, Ethiopian authorities recently implemented several economic reforms, including enabling foreign bank subsidiaries (albeit with ownership restrictions), partial privatization of Ethio Telecom, and switching to a floating exchange rate for the birr. This last move, which replaced an unsustainable dollar peg, was crucial in securing a $3.4 billion IMF aid package and a $1.5 billion World Bank financing plan.