by providing support to the private sector, coordinating and guiding the activities of all stakeholders, and addressing market failures. Central to the programme is an active industrial policy, based on selective interventions in strategic sectors. Selected value chains and clusters are targeted, following the highly successful example of the floriculture sector where interventions targeted at technology, coordination, and market failure were directed by public-private partnerships. Infrastructure, power generation, construction and supply-facilitating opportunities are also highlighted in PASDEP as high-potential areas for private sector participation, as are the social sectors, illustrated by the substantial growth of private schools in urban areas. 321 Although steps have been taken to spur private sector growth, such as simplifying administrative procedures, clarifying rules regulating business activities, and reducing the time required to obtain necessary licenses, government still maintains a major role in the economy. The telecommunications sector, for instance, remains a state monopoly. In addition, according to the constitution, land ownership belongs only to “the state and the people”. Citizens can lease land for up to 99 years but are not allowed to sell. Several sectors of the economy are closed to private investors, reserved solely for government. As discussed in Chapter Five, amongst them are the transmission and generation of electricity and postal services. Further, foreign firms are excluded from many sectors of the economy, (areas that belong on the negative list) such as banking, insurance, broadcasting, air transportation that uses aircraft with a seating capacity of more than 20 passengers, motels, saw mills, movie theatres, travel agencies, bakery products and pastries for the domestic market, the export of raw coffee, retail and wholesale trade, brokerage services and shipping. 322 The CRM learnt that Ethiopia’s privatisation programme, which started in 1994, has evolved over time and changed from many perspectives. However, it still retains the features of the Ethiopian economic redirection policies launched in 1991. Government established the Ethiopian Privatisation Agency (EPA) in 1994 to implement the programme. The EPA started with the privatisation of small retail trade outlets and hotels as well as small-scale manufacturing and agroprocessing enterprises. Government intended to gain first-hand experience, to be applied when it came to privatising medium- and large-scale enterprises, a more complex endeavour. 323 In 2003, the EPA commissioned a study to identify the reasons for the slow progress of Ethiopia’s privatisation programme. Based on the study outcomes and subsequent reviews, the EPA was restructured and a new entity, the Privatisation and Public Enterprise Supervising Authority (PPESA) emerged with renewed vigour and focus. Since the restructuring, privatisation has accelerated. According - 137 -