Abstract:
Ethiopia has great potential for private investment sector because of its favorable conditions. Its
fertile land, minerals, forest resources, different climatic conditions, water resources and human
resources are some of the factors that makes Ethiopia desirable for private investment, despite
these resources there are very few private investment activities in the country taking Jimma zone
as one part of oromia region there are poor private investment activities even though the same
favorable conditions exit as the general country. The study intended to identify the major causes
for low private investment in Jimma zone of Oromia region, and there consequences on the
overall economic development of the zone. For this purpose, data was collected from primary
and secondary sources. Primary data was obtained from investment office of Jimma zone officers
and leaders, and people being engaged in different private investment in the zone. Secondary
data was taken from investment office of the zone, and different publications. The research also
underlined the private investment activity is very limited and there are different social and
economic problems resulted due to limited level of private investment such as, poor standardized
of living, high unemployment, and general economic stagnation of the zone. Finally, the study
concluded that the low level of private investment activities has negatively affected the level of
economic growth of the zone.
