Denver City Wire

Agreement strengthens Denver’s growing connection with Ethiopia and African continent

Mayor Michael B. Hancock and Mayor Adanech Abiebie of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia have signed a City2City agreement. The new partnership solidifies the strong common interest between Denver and Addis Ababa to broaden and deepen the Business Welcome program to promote international trade and investment by providing businesses the support required to scale up in their respective cities.  

“A critically important element of our economic development strategy has always been to elevate Denver’s profile as a competitive international partner, including building access to global markets,” Mayor Hancock said. “Mayor Abiebie and I share a passion for equitable and inclusive development, and the City2City agreement will serve our respective regions for years to come.”

Established through Denver Economic Development & Opportunity’s (DEDO) Global Business Development division, a City2City agreement solidifies civic relationships. A key element of this cooperative work is to ensure that businesses ready to scale receive the support they need to explore and expand at the respective partnership location. Formalizing the connection between Denver and Addis Ababa means that companies from each city, exploring the partner location, can expect a free and customized “soft landing” package designed to save time and resources. Beyond the mutual interest in scaling companies, the City2City partners have also discovered valuable mutual interests in workforce education, apprenticeships, manufacturing and emerging technologies.

Denver has signed City2City agreements with London; Brest, France; the State of New South Wales; and Guadalajara, Mexico. Through these partnerships with cities across the world, Denver is an innovative leader in a growing, reciprocal global network that creates both launch and landing pads for companies to find success in foreign markets.

“City2City is a collaboration operating on multiple levels—directly with international founders and entrepreneurs themselves, providing immersion services, and also by fostering a wide-range of public and nonprofit entity relationships with like-minded international cities to share best practices and open doors,” said Jen Morris, DEDO Executive Director.

“As Denver opens and expands global opportunities for scaling businesses, DEDO has discovered that global business development stimulates job growth and increases cultural diversity, which is what makes international economic development so rewarding,” Morris said.

In addition to the City2City agreement, Denver has maintained Sister City partnerships with the African continent including Axum, Ethiopia since 1995 and Nairobi, Kenya since 1975. Sister City relationships are officially recognized through signed agreements by the respective mayor of each city; the Sister City agreement builds economic, education, and government ties and furthers cultural understanding.

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