Sultan Ahmed Ben Sulayem, head of the Dubai World delegation, said the Dubai government firm would invest in mining, trade, agriculture, real estate and catering.

"A team of experts from Dubai is in the process of finalising agreements with the government," he told state-run Ethiopian television late on Thursday. Ethiopia has forecast economic growth in 2008 of 10.8 percent, boosted by agriculture and services, but the country of 81 million people remains one of the world's poorest.

Sovereign wealth funds like Dubai World have been enriched by record oil and commodity prices, and are looking to emerging markets, as well as the richer economies, for new opportunities.

Dubai World is spending more than $50 million renovating a luxury hotel in Comoros.

Dubai Group -- another part of Dubai Holding owned by the emirate's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum -- unveiled plans in March to invest $250 million in finance, real estate and tourism sectors of Mauritius.